Teenagers and Minority Groups Experiencing Highest Unemployment

The unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported, with approximately zero new jobs added over the month. While the nation experienced some minor job creation in health care and education, a massive strike involving 45,000 workers in the telecommunications industry helped keep employment numbers down. (The employees on strike were off company payrolls and thus could not be included in the survey reference period.) The unemployment rate has largely remained unchanged since April.

Teenagers and minority groups have been hit hardest recently, experiencing unemployment rates significantly higher than the national average. The graph below outlines the unemployment rates for some of the major worker demographics:

Among these groups, the unemployment rates for adult men is 8.9 percent, with adult women at 8.0 percent. Teenagers on the other hand, grapple with a massive 25.4 percent unemployment rate. Black and Hispanic citizens are also witnessing above average unemployment. These minority groups are reporting 16.7 percent 11.3 percent unemployment rates respectively. Overall, most of the major worker groups have shown little or no change from July to August.

“The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was about unchanged at 6.0 million in August and accounted for 42.9 percent of the unemployed,” the B.L.S. confirmed.

“The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) rose from 8.4 million in July to 8.8 million in August,” the B.L.S. also noted. “These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job”