Black Unemployment Drops Slightly, Still Remains High

How one analyzes the black unemployment numbers for the month of October really comes down to whether you see the glass as being half empty or half full. On one hand, most of the indicators of black unemployment went down, but they still remain remarkably high relative to the numbers for white Americans.

According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, black unemployment dropped by .4 percentage points, from 16.1 percent to 15.7 percent. The number is still nearly double that of white unemployment, which lies at 8.8 percent.

Black male unemployment actually saw the steepest decline among all race/gender groups, dropping from 17.6 percent to 16.3 percent. The number is still 83 percent higher than white male unemployment (which is 8.9 percent).

Black women saw a slight increase in their unemployment rate, which went from 12.6 percent to 12.7 percent. The unemployment numbers for black women are 74 percent higher than those for white females (at 7.3 percent, lower than any other group in America).

Black teens saw mild relief from their unemployment crisis, but not very much. The unemployment rate for black teenagers dropped from 49 percent to 48 percent, but still remains more than double that of white teens (23.6 percent).

The numbers on black unemployment at least appear to be holding steady, but can be misleading due to the fact that quite a few Americans have simply stopped looking for work. Also, improvements in the black unemployment numbers must be balanced against the reality that black Americans are consistently unemployed at a rate that is nearly double that of the white American population. As I mentioned in my open letter to President Obama, this state of affairs cannot be allowed to exist much longer.