Linked media – Associated media
In June, unemployment rates for white, black, and Hispanic women saw an uptick, aligning with broader economic trends, according to Friday’s Labor Department data release.
White adult women experienced a slight rise in unemployment, moving from 3.0% in May to 3.1% in June. Black women saw their unemployment rate increase to 5.7% from 5.2%, while Hispanic women experienced a rise to 4.5% from 4.1%.
Overall, the national unemployment rate inched up to 4.1% from 4.0% last month.
Conversely, unemployment rates for men in all three racial groups declined. The rate for white men fell to 3.2% from 3.4%, for Hispanic men to 4.2% from 4.7%, and for black men to 6.1% from 6.4%, though black men continue to face the highest unemployment rates among these groups.
Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, commented, “While we’ve witnessed significant gains for women in the labor market post-pandemic, June presented a setback. Interestingly, this increase in female unemployment coincided with job growth in health and social care sectors, traditionally female-dominated fields.”
The unemployment rate for white workers overall remained steady at 3.5%. For Hispanic workers, it decreased to 4.9% from 5%, whereas for black Americans, it rose to 6.3% from 6.1%. The rate for Asian Americans increased to 4.1% from 3.1%, although gender-specific data for Asian workers was not available.
The labor force participation rate—representing the percentage of the population either employed or actively seeking work—rose slightly to 62.6% from 62.5% in May. This rate held steady for white workers but decreased to 62.7% from 62.9% for black Americans. In contrast, participation rates for Asian and Hispanic workers rose to 65.9% from 65.3% and to 67.5% from 67.3%, respectively.
Associated media – Associated media
