Black Worker Unemployment Rate Increases to 12.4 Percent in March 2014

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all Black workers (youth, male and female) increased from 12 to 12.4 percent between February and March 2014, according to recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics data; while the total number of unemployed Black workers increased by 82,000 (from 2,237,000 to 2,319,000) during the same period.

The official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Black female workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 9.9 to 11 percent between February and March 2014; while the unemployment rate for Black male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 12.1 percent.

In addition, between February and March 2014 the number of Black female workers over 20 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 92,000 (from 8,646,000 to 8,554,000); while the number of unemployed Black female workers over 20 years-of-age increased by 112,000 (from 948,000 to 1,060,000) during the same period.

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Black youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age in the United States increased from 32.4 to 36.1 percent between February and March 2014; while the number of Black youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 12,000 (from 425,000 to 413,000) during the same period. In addition, between February and March 2014 the number of unemployed Black youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased by 29,000 (from 204,000 to 233,000).

The official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latino youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age was still 21.3 percent in March 2014; while 220,000 Latino youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age were still unemployed during that same month.

The official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for white youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age was still 18.3 percent in March 2014; while the number of unemployed white youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased by 23,000 (from 807,000 to 830,000) between February and March 2014.

In March 2014, the official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age was still 20.9 percent; while the total number of unemployed youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased by 20,000 (from 1,173,000 to 1,193,000) between February and March 2014..

The official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latina female workers over 20 years-of-age was still 8.4 percent in March 2014; while the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all Latino workers (male, female and youth) in the United States was still 7.9 percent during that same month. In addition, the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latino male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 6.9 percent in March 2014.

In March 2014, the official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all Asian-American workers was still 5.4 percent; while the “not seasonally adjusted” number of unemployed Asian-American workers was still 480,000 during that same month.

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for white male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 5.3 percent in March 2014; while the jobless rate for white female workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 5.1 to 5.3 percent between February and March 2014. In addition, the number of white female workers over 20 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 225,000 (from 51,822,000 to 51,597,000) between February and March 2014; while the total number of unemployed white female workers over 20 years-of-age increased by 98,000 (from 2,813,000 to 2,911,000) during the same period.

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all female workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 5.9 to 6.2 percent between February and March 2014; while the official unemployment rate for all male workers over 20 years-of-age was also still 6.2 percent in March 2014. In addition, the total number of unemployed male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 5,636,000 in March 2014; while the official jobless rate for all male workers over 16 years-of-age was still 6.8 percent during that same month..

In March 2014, the official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all U.S. workers (male, female and youth) was still 6.7 percent; while the official total  number of unemployed workers in the United States increased by 27,000 (from 10,459,000 to 10,486,000) between February and March 2014.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April 4, 2014 press release:

 “…The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent…In March, the number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged at 10.5 million…Both measures have shown little movement since December 2013…Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult women increased to 6.2 percent in March…

 “The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 3.7 million, changed little in March; these individuals accounted for 35.8 percent of the unemployed…The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed at 7.4 million in March. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time work.

 “In March, 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little changed
from a year earlier…These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

“Among the marginally attached, there were 698,000 discouraged workers in March… Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them…

“Employment in government was unchanged in March. A decline of 9,000 jobs in federal government was mostly offset by an increase of 8,000 jobs in local government, excluding education. Over the past year, employment in federal government has fallen by 85,000. 

“Employment in other major industries, including manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail
trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial activities, changed
little over the month…

“…In March, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees edged down by 2 cents to $20.47….”