Black Teen Unemployment High During Coronavirus

Black Teen Unemployment

The US Department of Labor released the employment numbers for July 2020.  The July jobs report showed non farm payroll went up by 1.8 million jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 10.2%. This reflects people returning to work as companies slowly reopened.

The numbers are not good overall, but it is concerning that the unemployment rate among African American teens stands at 22.5%, down from the peak of shutdown in May of 34.9%. The Black teen unemployment rate typically lags other demographic groups and this time is no different with the teen unemployment for Hispanics at 21% and for Whites at 17.8%. The closure of retail stores, summer camps and amusement parks have certainly put a damper on teen employment across the board.

Below is a breakdown of the employment data for July 2020.

White People – 9.2% overall

Adult men (20 years or over) overall 8.3 %

Adult women (20 years or over) overall 9.6%

Teenagers (16 – 19 years) 17.8 %

Black People – 14.6% overall

Adult men (20 years or over) overall 15.2 %

Adult women (20 years or over) overall 13.5 %

Teenagers (16 – 19 years) 22.5 %

Hispanic People – 12.9% overall

Adult men (20 years or over) overall 11.4 %

Adult women (20 years or over) overall 14.0 %

Teenagers (16 – 19 years) 21.0 %

The number of long term unemployed, (those unemployed beyond 27 weeks) remained virtually unchanged at 1.5 million.

Education Level

Unemployment rates for persons 25 years of age or older by educational level:

Less than High School – 6.3%

High School graduate with no college – 15.4%

Some college or Associate degree – 10.0%

Bachelor’s degree or higher – 6.8%