African-American workers still have highest jobless rate

The nation’s nonfarm businesses added 175,000 new jobs in February, but it did not improve the jobless rate for African-American men age 20 and older. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for this worker group was 12.9 percent last month compared to 12.0 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported. The labor-participation rate for black men 20-years-old and older improved slightly to 66.6 percent in February compared to 66.2 percent in January.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for African-American women was 9.9 percent in February, down from 10.4 in January. Black women’s labor-participation rate actually dropped to 58.0 percent in February from 58.2 percent in January, BLS reported. 

The overall seasonally adjusted jobless rate for African Americans last month was 12.0 percent compared to 12.1 percent in January. Still, among major worker groups, except for teenagers 16 to 19 years old, African-American workers have the highest jobless rate.