A hiring sign at a Dunkin restaurant in Hallandale, Florida, September 21, 2021.
Joe Ladle | Getty Images
The U.S. unemployment rate fell for Hispanic workers and black women in November, but overall unemployment remained flat.
The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers fell to 3.9% last month from 4.2% in October, according to the Labor Department on Friday. The unemployment rate for Hispanic men fell from 3.8% to 3.5%, and the unemployment rate for women dropped from his 3.7% to 3.6%. The unemployment rate among Hispanic youth (ages 16-19) improved from 12.3% to 11.2%.
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Black unemployment fell from 5.9% to 5.7%. Black women further decreased from her 5.8% to 5.2%. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for black men rose from his 5.3% to 5.4%. The black youth unemployment rate worsened from 16.5% to 16.8%.
More broadly, the US unemployment rate in November was unchanged at 3.7%, unchanged from October, as expected.
Still, the US reported strong job growth in November, signaling that the Federal Reserve may have to step up its efforts to cool the labor market. Overall, the US added 263,000 jobs last month. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected 200,000 new jobs.
Michelle Holder, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, said: “What this report really means is that the Federal Reserve is frankly trying to push the unemployment numbers higher. It’s about continuing to take a positive path,” he said.
“So it’s not necessarily good for black or Latino workers in the end, because during recessions, these workers are usually the most dissatisfied.”
Holder said a notable increase in employment in the leisure and hospitality sectors last month helped lower the unemployment rate for Hispanic workers. Hispanic workers are overpopulated in the sector, and in November he added 88,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, massive increases in health care and government employment have spurred a decline in black women’s unemployment rate.
Indeed, the low unemployment rates in both groups have been driven in part by the withdrawal of more Hispanic workers and black women from the labor market, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic.
The labor force participation rate for Hispanic workers fell from 66.1% to 65.7%. The percentage of black women dropped to 61.8% from her 62.2% in October.
Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, meanwhile, said the strong headlines in November’s jobs report masked weakness in the household survey data.
Overall, data showing the number of people employed in the United States, the employment share, and the participation rate have all fallen for at least three consecutive months.
If what’s happening in the household survey is a better measure, “it actually shows a lot more financial distress,” Gould said. I am suffering now.”
