The U.S. jobs report for March was a big disappointment.
According to the Labor Department, only 126,000 jobs were added last month, far below estimates of 247,000.
The report marked the first time in a year where the job numbers fell below 200,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also lowered the jobs created in January and February by 69,000.
Disappointing job numbers coupled with a decline in durable goods orders in February adds to the concerns about the overall strength of the U.S. economy.
Black Americans continue to suffer the most under President Obama’s economy.
The unemployment rate for all Americans remained at 5.5% but the black unemployment rate was 10%, more than twice the rate of whites at 4.7%.
For black teens the unemployment rate was 25%, down from 30%. The white teen rate was 15.7%.
In March, the black labor participation rate also dropped.
From CNSNews:
According to the BLS, the more than 12 million black people not in the labor force in March means that they did not have a job or actively seek one in the past four weeks. The number climbed from 12,122,000 in February to 12,202,000 in March, an increase of 80,000.
The labor force participation rate for this group, which is the percentage of the population who participated in the labor force by either having a job or actively seeking one, declined from 61.2 percent in February to 61.0 percent in March.
While the black unemployment rate usually runs twice that of whites, the gap has grown since the 2008 economic crisis.
The widening gap between blacks and whites was recognized by the Economic Policy Institute – a politically progressive organization.
“The unemployment rate for black communities is at a crisis level, even as the economy gets closer and closer to a full recovery,” said Valerie Wilson, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
The unemployment rate for blacks is typically twice as high as the rate for whites, she said, but since the recession, that gap has increased. While white unemployment dropped to 4.5 percent in the last quarter of 2014, for example, black unemployment remained at 11 percent. Median hourly wages for black workers have dropped by 3.6 percent since the start of the recession, falling twice as much as for whites.
Not only are blacks falling further behind whites, Obama’s energy policy is causing electricity prices skyrocket and will compound their economic plight. Black Americans have the lowest average income and higher utility prices will drain their disposable income more than other demographic groups that have a higher income.
The sad truth is Obama’s policies are harming his most loyal voter bloc the most and it’s only going to worse.
#WakeUpBlacks
Cross-posted at Deneen Borelli.com
