The overall unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent, the lowest in two years. Private sector employers added 230,000 jobs in March
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports:
In March, 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, up slightly from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-1.)
In a statement on the employment situation, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee said:
The overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years, but there will surely be bumps in the road ahead.
For African American workers, it is indeed a bumpy ride. While the calendar says it's April 1, the employment situation seems like Groundhog Day.
There was a slight increase in the black unemployment rate to 15.5 percent, from 15.3 percent in February.
The black female unemployment rate fell to 12.5 percent, from 13.0 percent.
Black male joblessness rose to 16.8 percent, from 16.2 percent. Black youth unemployment increased to 42.1 percent, from 38.4 percent.
For a timeline of black unemployment, visit Tracking Change.
