We are hiring, Part-Time Champions Needed, Sign at the entrance of the Target Store, Queens, NY.
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The unemployment rate among Black Americans jumped in March, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.
The unemployment rate among blacks rose to 6.4% last month, compared to 5.6% in February. That's higher than the overall unemployment rate, which fell to 3.8% last month, as well as the 3.4% jobless rate for white Americans, which has remained flat since February.
When accounting for gender, the unemployment rate for Black women 20 and older rose to 5.6%, a significant increase from the 4.4% rate in February. Unemployment rates among black men rose slightly to 6.2% from 6.1%.
“This is a worrying trend,” said Elise Gould, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
Gould noted that the unemployment rate among Black Americans has been increasing steadily since December. “I would say it's not a concern yet, but I think it's something we really need to keep an eye on in the coming months,” she added.
While the increase in March was primarily driven by increases among Black women, Gould noted that in the past four months, unemployment rates have risen for both men and women. However, she also cautioned that monthly data for demographic groups can be inherently volatile.
Last month, the labor force participation rate — the percentage of the population who is working or actively looking for work — among Black Americans fell to 63.6%, from 63.7% in February. For black women, the rate decreased. Voting percentage fell to 63% from 63.4%, while it fell to 69.6% from 69.8% among black men.
“People are looking for more opportunities, and not everyone is getting them, which is why the unemployment rate is going up,” Gould added.
This compares with the overall US labor market participation rate, which rose to 62.7% in March from 62.5% in February.
Black Americans have been the demographic group that has suffered most from business closures due to the coronavirus. The unemployment rate for Black workers peaked at 16.8% in 2020, higher than the highest overall unemployment rate in April 2020 of 14.7%.
Hispanic Americans saw the unemployment rate fall to 4.5% from 5% last month. Likewise, unemployment in Asia fell to 2.5% from 3.4% in February.
— CNBC's Gabriel Curtis contributed to this report.
