Part 2: The demographics of the unemployed - April 9th
Bottom Line: The demos of the unemployed tell a much more instructive story about what's really going on in our labor market. As I do monthly, here are the government reported unemployment rates and my adjusted rate based on demographics:
Asians: 3.1% (up .2%)
White: 3.6% (down .1%)
Hispanic: 5.1% (up .2%)
Black: 6.9% (flat)
Here are the adjusted rates once you factor in the long-term unemployed, underemployed and marginally attached workers:
Asians: 6%
White: 7%
Hispanic: 9.9%
Black: 13.4%
The report was a mixed bag demographically. White unemployment improved slightly but Hispanic employment slipped a bit. On the plus side for the area of biggest need, black employment, while the base reported rate didn't improve the real/adjusted unemployment rate that factors in those unaccounted for (long-term unemployed, underemployed, etc.) we had a half point of improvement and the adjusted black unemployment rate hit a new-all-time low.
There's still a lot of room for improvement in many majority minority communities but the most recent report brought some hidden good news with it... In the third part of today's employment story we'll explore the fun stuff...how much more money we're making...