Black Unemployment Slightly Down In New Jobs Report

After significant uptick in February, minority employment decreases in March

The jobs picture for African Americans seems to have improved in the month of March, despite the jobless rate remaining higher than any other group at 14 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics report, released Friday, shows black unemployment fell a tenth of a percent, as did the overall rate, which fell to 8.2 percent. The rate for whites is 7.3 percent; for Hispanics, 10.3 percent; and for Asians, 6.2 percent.

From January to February, black unemployment jumped to 14.1 percent from 13.6 percent. Layoffs from seasonal work were at fault.

The economy added 120,000 jobs in March, much less than analysts predicted. Some of it may be explained by a sharp loss of retail jobs – 34,000 positions were lost last month.

The economy needs to add jobs in the neighborhood of 200,000 per month to bring unemployment below 8 percent by the November election, according to CNN economic analysts.

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