A sign for a healthcare career fair at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina, on February 28, 2023.
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The unemployment rate among Asian Americans fell from June to July, bucking the broader trend, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate for Asian Americans fell to 3.7% in July from 4.1% the previous month. The result was the opposite of the overall unemployment rate, which rose to 4.3% last month from 4.1% in June.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for white Americans rose to 3.8% in July, up from 3.5% the month before. For Hispanics, the figure rose to 5.3% last month, up from 4.9% in June. The unemployment rate for black workers remained steady at 6.3%.
When gender is taken into account, the unemployment rate for black women fell, with the unemployment rate for them falling to 5.5% in July, compared with 5.7% the month before. For black men, the figure rose to 6.6% last month, up from 6.1% in June.
The unemployment rate rose to 3.5% in July from 3.2% for white men, while it rose to 3.4% last month from 3.1% for white women. The rate similarly rose to 4.4% last month from 4.2% for Hispanic males, and jumped to 5.4% in July from 4.5% for Hispanic female workers.
Unemployment rates among Asian workers by gender were not readily available.
But Elise Gold, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, stressed that these numbers include a great deal of volatility — especially for smaller populations — and cautioned against reading too much into trends.
In fact, Gold stressed that while the overall unemployment rate rose last month, the labor market remains strong for the prime-age group, or workers ages 25 to 54. The employment rate for this age group was 80.9% in July, the economist said. Gold added that female workers in this group continue to recover.
“More people are returning to the workforce. A lot of them haven't found jobs, and that's why the unemployment rate has gone up. But when you look at the other side, things have definitely gotten stronger,” Gold told CNBC.
Last month, the overall labor force participation rate rose to 62.7% in July, up from 62.6% the month before. This measure represents the percentage of the population who are currently working or actively looking for work.
For white workers, the labor force participation rate rose to 62.3% last month, up from 62.2% in June. The rate rose to 63.2% in July, up from 62.7% the month before for black Americans.
For Hispanic workers, the labor force participation rate was 67.3% in July, slightly lower than the previous month’s reading of 67.5%. Meanwhile, the rate among Asians was 65.7% last month, down from 65.9% in June.
— CNBC's Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.
