Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
Free Webinar - Decode the market's secrets! | Tuesday, May 30, 2023 | 01:00PM EDT Enroll Now
US Black Unemployment Matches Record Low in Robust Job Market
Published Feb 03, 2023 10:00AM ET
Updated Feb 03, 2023 10:27AM ET
(Bloomberg) -- The unemployment rate for Black Americans in January dropped to match a record low, as the labor market’s surprise strength benefited a broad swathe of workers.
Last month’s rate fell to 5.4%, the same rate reached in September of 2019, which was the lowest in data stretching back to the early 1970s, according to a Labor Department released Friday. That was down from 5.7% in December.
The data showed that more Black Americans entered the labor force and became employed. Still, the January rate is 2 percentage points above that of the overall population and remains the highest among the race groups tracked by the government.
The January report displayed widespread employment and labor force growth.
Many employers are still struggling to find workers, helping to pull in traditionally sidelined workers, including minorities and women. It’s a phenomenon Federal Reserve officials say became apparent in the lead up to the pandemic, when longstanding disparities in employment between White workers and those of other races started to break down.
Women have also experienced substantial gains in the past few months. The share of employed women age 25 to 54 — so-called prime-age workers — rose to 74.7% last month, matching the pre-pandemic level and nearing a record seen in 2000.
For prime-age men, the employment-to-population ratio fell to 85.8% in January. It hasn’t yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels and is far from highs reached in the post-World War II era.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.