An attendee receives information about a job in California at a hiring event at the City Career Fair in Sacramento, California, on June 5, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The unemployment rate for black workers fell in August, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.
In August, the unemployment rate for black workers fell to 6.1% from 6.3% the previous month. That trend was in line with the overall unemployment rate in the country, which fell to 4.2% in August from July.
On the other hand, the unemployment rate for white workers remained steady at 3.8%. The unemployment rate for Asian and Latino workers also rose. For the former, it rose to 4.1% from 3.7%. For the latter, it rose to 5.5% from 5.3%.
Black men saw their unemployment rates drop significantly month-over-month, falling from 6.6% to 5.9%. On the other hand, the unemployment rate for black women remained steady at 5.5%.
While the unemployment rate for Hispanic women fell from 5.4% to 5%, the unemployment rate for their male counterparts rose from 4.4% to 4.8%. The unemployment rate for white men also rose from 3.5% to 3.6%, while it remained unchanged at 3.4% for white women.
Digging into the employment-to-population ratio for working-age women, or those ages 25 to 54, paints a very optimistic view of the labor market, says Elise Gold, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
“The employment-to-population ratio for working-age women remains at its highest level in a quarter century,” she told CNBC. “That ratio remains very strong, even if there is some softening in other measures.”
“It makes sense that we would see some weakness now as we approach full operation,” Gold added.
Last month, the labor force participation rate — the percentage of the population who is working or actively looking for work — remained unchanged at 62.7%.
Among white workers, the rate was flat, while among black workers it fell to 62.7% from 63.2%. Among Asian workers, participation fell to 65.4% from 65.7%, and among Hispanic workers it rose to 67.8% from 67.3%.
— CNBC's Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.
Correction: The unemployment rate for black women remained steady at 5.5%. The previous version misstated the percentage.
