September, Black jobless rate declines

(Special from NorthStar-News Today) – The nation’s nonfarm businesses added 142,000 jobs in September, but the Economic Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C., called the report disappointing.

“September’s numbers bring average monthly job creation to 198,000 in 2015, a rate slower than 2014,” EPI reported. “Hope for upward revisions to the low August numbers were revised downward by a combined 59,000 fewer jobs.”

During September, the unemployment rate for Black men 20 years old and older dropped to 8.9 percent compared to 9.2 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier this month.

The jobless rate for Black women 20 years old and older was 8.0 percent in September, down from 8.1 percent in August. The overall Black unemployment rate was 9.2 percent in September, down from 9.5 percent in August, BLS reported.

The jobless rate for Black men and Black women remains much higher than that of other ethnic and racial groups. The jobless rate for Asians was 3.6 percent and 4.1 percent for white men 20 and older. For white women 20 and older, it was 3.9 percent.

The jobless rate for Hispanic men 20 and older was 5.5 percent and for Hispanic women, it was 6.3 percent.

The Economic Policy Institute noted that the civilian labor-force participation declined last month. There were 635,000 discouraged workers last month. Discouraged workers are people who have given up looking for a job.

The unemployment rate remain-ed a 5.1 percent.

This article originally published in the October 12, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.