The nationwide unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent in December, the lowest level in many years. In December 2012, the nation’s unemployment rate stood at 7.9 percent.
The value of higher education to a person’s employment prospects cannot be overemphasized. In December, only 3.3 percent of college graduates were unemployed, compared to 7.1 percent of those who graduated from high school but had no college experience.
Yet despite the good news on the drop in unemployment, the stubborn racial gap in unemployment rates persists. In December, 11.9 percent of African Americans were unemployed. This is slightly more than double the White rate of 5.9 percent. This 2-to-1 Black unemployment rate compared to the rate for Whites has been constant for many decades, throughout good economic times and bad.
The December employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics can be accessed here.
Unemployment rates dropped because the government terminated extended unemployment benefits. To close the employment gap, African Americans should seriously consider reestablishing black communities and starting and supporting our ethnic businesses. It is one of the things that remain unique to immigrant populations who go on to thrive in the United States.
Significant Numbers of Black People Are Unemployed Because Black Businesses Cannot or Do Not Hire Significant Numbers of Black People.