Attendees learn about job opportunities in California during a City Career Fair hiring event on June 5, 2024, in Sacramento, California.
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The unemployment rate for Black workers fell in August, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.
The unemployment rate for black workers fell to 6.1% in August from 6.3% the previous month, a trend consistent with the national unemployment rate, which fell to 4.2% from July to August.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for white workers remained steady at 3.8%. The unemployment rates for Asians and Hispanics also rose: for the former, the rate rose from 3.7% to 4.1%, and for the latter, it rose from 5.3% to 5.5%.
Black men saw a larger drop in the unemployment rate from the previous month, dropping from 6.6% to 5.9%, while the unemployment rate for black women remained steady at 5.5%.
The unemployment rate for Hispanic women fell from 5.4% to 5%, while the unemployment rate for Hispanic men rose from 4.4% to 4.8%. The unemployment rate for white men also rose from 3.5% to 3.6%, while the unemployment rate for white women remained steady at 3.4%.
A closer look at the employment rate for prime-age female workers — those between the ages of 25 and 54 — paints a very optimistic picture of the labor market, according to Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
“The employment rate for prime-age women remains at a 25-year high,” she told CNBC. “While other indicators are still softening somewhat, this number remains very high.”
“As we approach full employment, it’s natural to see some weakness,” Gould added.
Last month, the labor force participation rate — the percentage of the population who are employed or actively looking for work — remained unchanged at 62.7%.
Among white workers, participation rates remained stable, but among black workers, participation rates fell from 63.2% to 62.7%, among Asian workers, participation rates fell from 65.7% to 65.4%, and among Hispanic workers, participation rates rose from 67.3% to 67.8%.
—CNBC’s Gabriel Cortez contributed to this report.
Correction: The unemployment rate for Black women remained steady at 5.5 percent. An earlier version listed the percentage incorrectly.
