The demographics of the unemployed – March 2019 

The demographics of the unemployed – March 2019 

Bottom Line: The demos of the unemployed tell a much more specific 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% 
  • White: 3.3% 
  • Hispanic: 4.3% 
  • Black: 7%

Here are the adjusted rates once you factor in the long-term unemployed, underemployed and marginally attached workers:                   

  • Asians: 6% (lower) 
  • White: 6.3% (lower)             
  • Hispanic: 8.3% (lower)                
  • Black: 13.4% (lower)   

The real unemployment rate dropped across the board with the biggest improvement coming from Hispanics in the workforce (1.6% decrease). We have a new record low unemployment rate for Hispanics. Not only did we see the bounce back from the partial government shutdown but it’s clear that we made real headway with previously underemployed Hispanic adults as well. This is one of many buried story lines coming out of the February report, which as I mentioned the first part of today’s story, will take another month to sort out the partial government shutdown impact in employment.

One constant that remains, is that despite the record setting progress we’ve made in minority employment over the past year, there’s still work to be done as unemployment rates for black adults are more than double Asians. A continued bonus on that note though. The length of time out of work for minorities remains the lowest in recorded American history.  

Obviously, we continue to see the disconnects in the labor market based on demographics and it paints a picture of where and with whom we generally need to be focusing efforts going forward.


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