Stock Groups

U.S. unemployment rate falls in December but rises for Black women

[ad_1]

Commuters are transported to Grand Central Station by Metro North Railroad trains.

Getty Images| AFP | Getty Images

For all U.S. workers, except Black women, the unemployment rate decreased in December.

Although the headline figure for employment is not high, came in much lower than expected in DecemberThe Labor Department reports that the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% from 4.2% in November.

However, the unemployment rate for Black women jumped to 6.2% last month from 4.9% — the only race and gender group whose unemployment rate worsened in December.

Decent saw a significant increase in Black women’s unemployment rates. This was due to a approximately 2 percentage-point drop in November. Some economists interpreted this decrease as a cautionary sign of progress for Black women looking for jobs.

Elise Gould senior economist, Economic Policy Institute said that data from smaller groups of people are more volatile than for larger demographics. To see the trends over time, we need to examine longer-term trends.

Black women have a lower unemployment rate than 8.5% as of the beginning 2021.

Gould stated that there has been an improvement in Black unemployment rates over time, but still remains high.

According to Nicole Mason (CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research), the disparity in the progress for Black women is a result of uneven labor-force recovery during the Covid pandemic.

Mason stated, “What I saw in December was that there is a long, bumpy road ahead for our recovery,” especially for Black women, and women of colour workers, who were disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

In December, the overall unemployment rate was 3.6% for women. This is 2.6 percentage points less than it was for Black women.

Mason said that December’s report does not accurately reflect the impact of the recent surge in Covid cases caused by the omicron variant. Mason also noted that outbreaks can derail daycare and school openings.

Mason explained that “we won’t be able understand the impact on the job numbers and unemployment of women reentering the workforce before January or February.”

For all Black workers, the unemployment rate in December came in at 7.1% — more than twice that of white workers at 3.2%. According to economists, the two-to-one ratio between Black and white unemployment was consistent over time.

“Discrimination and occupational discrimination have caused that Black workers’ outcomes in the labor marketplace are more difficult than those for white workers.” This has resulted in historically higher unemployment rates that are about twice as high for white workers during the business cycle,” Gould stated.

[ad_2]