The demographics of the unemployed – August 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 ethnicity:
- Asians: 2.8%
- White: 3.3%
- Hispanic: 4.5%
- Black: 6%
And by gender:
- Women – 3.4%
- Men – 3.4%
Here are the adjusted rates once you factor in the long-term unemployed, underemployed and marginally attached workers:
- Asians: 5.3% (higher)
- White: 6.2% (lower)
- Hispanic: 8.5 (higher)
- Black: 11.3% (lower – record low)
The demographic story is historic for a fourth straight month. The real Hispanic unemployment rate was up a tenth for the second straight month, but once again Black unemployment reached a new all-time low. It’s especially encouraging to see the improvement in Black unemployment given the disparity in unemployment rates compared to all other ethnicities. It’s where the most opportunity is needed and we’re getting follow-through with real progress. This is truly great news.
Still, we continue to see the disconnects in the labor market based on demographics, with the Asian unemployment rate still less than half that of the black unemployment rate and it paints a picture of where and with whom we generally need to be focusing efforts going forward. Hopefully what's happening with minority progress continues throughout the 2nd half of 2019.