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Black men lost ground in the labor force last month, marking a continuation of the inequalities that have permeated the U.S. labor market.
According to seasonally adjusted data from the Labor Department, black men age 20 or older had an unemployment rate of 5.3% in January, up from 4.6% in December. These workers had the highest unemployment rate when breaking down black, Hispanic and white workers by gender.
By comparison, the unemployment rate for white men was just 3.3% in January and has remained stable since December. The overall unemployment rate remained unchanged from December at 3.7%.
Meanwhile, the black community as a whole was the only racial group tracked to see an increase in unemployment starting in December. This underscores the impact of job loss among black men, especially given that the rate for black women remained unchanged at 4.8% between December and January.
Although the increase in the unemployment rate for black men was observed, it may be more indicative of an anomaly in the low December data, said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. January’s rate of 5.3% is essentially in line with the average month of 2023, while December’s rate of 4.6% was the lowest level of the year.
The tight labor market during the pandemic has helped close the gap in work-related opportunities for Black and white men, she said. In fact, the unemployment rate gap between black and white men shrank to 2 percentage points in January, compared to 4.1 percentage points in the same month of 2019.
Growth in the total number of employed Black men and the ratio of employed to total population compared to the start of 2023 also paints a picture of improvement, she added.
However, Gould said persistent inequality in employment and pay underscores the need for further social progress while reinforcing the argument that a strong labor market alone will not achieve equality.
According to federal data from the last quarter of 2023, the average white worker age 16 or older had an average weekly wage that was nearly 20% higher than that of their Black counterparts. This inequality grew to almost 25% when considering only male workers.
“A better economy can definitely help historically disadvantaged groups more because they are the ones who are often left out and slow to recover in weaker times,” Gould said. “Full employment is certainly a prerequisite for many traditionally marginalized groups to achieve positive labor market impacts, but it is not the only prerequisite.”
She pointed to unions as an example of a positive force for Black workers, noting that pay transparency among members could help close any racial pay gaps.
“A canary in the coal mine”
Looking at gender, unemployment rates for white and Asian workers fell in January to levels last seen in late fall. The Hispanic unemployment rate has remained steady at 5% since December, while the share of unemployed Black workers rose from 5.2% to 5.3%.
Gould cautioned that monthly fluctuations like those seen in the black male unemployment rate can be volatile. That’s why it’s important to assess longer-term trends before drawing conclusions, she said.
Still, Gould said it can be important to track employment patterns among Black workers and other marginalized groups to identify important economic trends. That’s true even when broader employment data like the data released Friday suggests a “hot” labor market, she added.
“It’s a canary in the coal mine,” she said. “When you think about where you’re going to see the signs of a recession, you don’t see that in the data today, but it’s always something to keep an eye on.”
—CNBC’s Gabriel Cortes contributed reporting.
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2024-02-02 17:47:56
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