A job seeker holds a flyer during the annual Bronx Job Fair & Expo organized by the New York Public Library at the Bronx Library Center on Friday, September 6, 2024, in the Bronx, New York, USA.
Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images
New data from the Labor Department indicates a slight increase in the unemployment rate for white Americans in October.
This demographic saw its unemployment rate rise from 3.6% in September to 3.8% in October. Despite this rise, the figure for white Americans remains below the national average, which stabilized at 4.1% during the same period.
For black and Hispanic populations, unemployment rates held steady at 5.7% and 5.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, the rate for Asian Americans dipped from 4.1% to 3.9%.
Both white men and women experienced minor increases in unemployment rates in October. The unemployment rate for men climbed from 3.4% to 3.5% and for women from 3.1% to 3.3%.
The unemployment rate for Hispanic women increased from 4.8% to 5.2%, while Hispanic men saw a decrease from 4.1% to 4.0%. Black women experienced a reduction in their jobless rate, dropping from 5.3% to 4.9%, in contrast to black men, whose rate rose from 5.1% to 5.7%.
Heidi Schierholz, the director of the Economic Policy Institute, noted that the fluctuations in data are likely a temporary occurrence, especially considering the significant drop in black male unemployment from 5.9% in August to 5.1% in September. She emphasized the variability in the numbers.
“The substantial increase in black male unemployment seen in October seems to be a reversion after an exceptional decline in September,” she shared with CNBC.
Schierholz also pointed out that October’s figures were disproportionately influenced by hurricanes and labor strikes, complicating comparisons. She cautioned against overemphasizing the data from a single month, particularly under the current unusual circumstances.
The overall labor force participation rate, representing the portion of the population either employed or actively seeking work, dipped to 62.6% in October, down from 62.7% in September.
The participation rate for white workers fell slightly to 62.2% from 62.4%, while Hispanic workers dropped from 67.4% to 66.9%. In contrast, the participation rate for Asian workers increased from 65.3% to 65.5%, with Black Americans maintaining their rate at 62.9%.
—CNBC’s Gabriel Cortez contributed to this report.
