The Department of Labor released data on Friday showing that the unemployment rate for men in Black and Hispanic racial groups decreased in September, while remaining relatively stable for other racial groups.
In September, the jobless rate for Black men dropped to 5.1% from 5.9% the previous month, and for Hispanic men, it fell to 4.1% from 4.8% in August. The overall unemployment rate also decreased slightly to 4.1% in September, down by 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.
Bankrate economic analyst Sarah Foster noted that the Black unemployment rate, although still 1.5 times higher than that of white workers, decreased in September to its lowest level since April. This improvement marked the first decline in unemployment for Black workers in five months. The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers also reached its lowest point since June.
For other racial groups, the jobless rates either remained stable or decreased slightly. The unemployment rate for Asian workers held steady at 4.1%, while for white workers, it decreased to 3.6% from 3.8% in September.
Among women in different racial groups, there were small declines in the unemployment rate. Black and Hispanic women both saw a 0.2% decrease in unemployment to 5.3% and 4.8%, respectively, in September. Unemployment for white women also decreased to 3.1% from 3.4%. Data on the jobless rates for Asian workers by gender was not readily available.
The employment-to-population ratio for female prime-age workers (ages 25 to 54) dropped to its lowest level since May. Despite this decrease, Foster mentioned that prime-age labor force participation remains close to a historic high, although it has slightly decreased from its recent peak in August.
In September, the labor force participation rate, which represents the percentage of the population that is employed or actively seeking work, remained unchanged at 62.7%. Among different racial groups, the participation rate increased by 0.1 percentage point to 62.4% for white workers, decreased to 67.4% from 67.8% for Hispanic workers, and dropped to 65.3% from 65.5% for Asian workers. However, it rose to 62.9% from 62.7% for Black workers.
This report includes contributions from CNBC’s Gabriel Cortes.
