- Not have worked in the week specified for the survey
- Have actively sought work sometime during the four weeks preceding the survey
- Be currently available to take a suitable job.
In December 2003 approximately six million whites, or 5 percent of whites in the civilian labor force, were unemployed in the United States. Approximately 1.7 million African-Americans, or 10.3 percent of African-Americans in the civilian labor force, were unemployed. (See Table 3.1.) Among Hispanics, 1.3 million, or 6.6 percent of Hispanics in the civilian labor force, were unemployed in December 2003. (See Table 3.2.)
African-Americans
Although unemployment rates rise and fall with the strength of the economy, the unemployment rates for African-Americans have run twice as high as for whites for several decades. With fewer marketable skills than whites, African-Americans are more likely to remain
TABLE 3.3
Employment status of the Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban-origin population by sex and age, 2001–02
(Numbers in thousands)
| Total Hispanic origin1 | Mexican origin | Puerto Rican origin | Cuban origin | |||||
| Employment status, sex, and age | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 |
| Women, 16 years and over | ||||||||
| Civilian noninstitutional population | 12,247 | 12,742 | 7,571 | 7,809 | 1,309 | 1,338 | 550 | 570 |
| Civilian labor force | 7,049 | 7,334 | 4,285 | 4,452 | 725 | 731 | 277 | 274 |
| Percent of population | 57.6 | 57.6 | 56.6 | 57.0 | 55.4 | 54.7 | 50.4 | 48.1 |
| Employed | 6,522 | 6,744 | 3,949 | 4,085 | 669 | 662 | 259 | 255 |
| Agriculture | 97 | 103 | 80 | 90 | 2 | 3 | 3 | – |
| Nonagricultural industries | 6,425 | 6,641 | 3,868 | 3,996 | 667 | 660 | 256 | 254 |
| Unemployed | 527 | 590 | 337 | 367 | 56 | 68 | 18 | 19 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.5 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 6.5 | 7.1 |
| Not in labor force | 5,198 | 5,408 | 3,285 | 3,356 | 583 | 607 | 273 | 296 |
| Women, 20 years and over | ||||||||
| Civilian noninstitutional population | 11,049 | 11,528 | 6,745 | 7,010 | 1,188 | 1,211 | 525 | 533 |
| Civilian labor force | 6,557 | 6,863 | 3,932 | 4,137 | 682 | 679 | 270 | 259 |
| Percent of population | 59.3 | 59.5 | 58.3 | 59.0 | 57.4 | 56.1 | 51.4 | 48.5 |
| Employed | 6,121 | 6,367 | 3,661 | 3,835 | 635 | 621 | 253 | 242 |
| Agriculture | 92 | 101 | 75 | 87 | 2 | 3 | 3 | – |
| Nonagricultural industries | 6,029 | 6,266 | 3,586 | 3,748 | 634 | 618 | 250 | 241 |
| Unemployed | 436 | 496 | 271 | 303 | 47 | 58 | 17 | 17 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.6 | 7.2 | 6.9 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 6.6 |
| Not in labor force | 4,492 | 4,666 | 2,813 | 2,873 | 506 | 532 | 255 | 275 |
| Both sexes, 16 to 19 years | ||||||||
| Civilian noninstitutional population | 2,508 | 2,507 | 1,728 | 1,667 | 224 | 241 | 57 | 66 |
| Civilian labor force | 1,176 | 1,103 | 850 | 760 | 86 | 100 | 22 | 24 |
| Percent of population | 46.9 | 44.0 | 49.2 | 45.6 | 38.3 | 41.4 | 38.4 | 36.4 |
| Employed | 969 | 882 | 700 | 610 | 65 | 74 | 18 | 20 |
| Agriculture | 39 | 36 | 35 | 35 | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| Nonagricultural industries | 930 | 846 | 665 | 577 | 64 | 74 | 17 | 20 |
| Unemployed | 208 | 221 | 150 | 149 | 21 | 25 | 4 | 4 |
| Unemployment rate | 17.7 | 20.1 | 17.7 | 19.7 | 24.9 | 25.2 | (2) ( | 2) |
| Not in labor force | 1,331 | 1,404 | 878 | 908 | 138 | 141 | 35 | 42 |
| 1Includes persons of Central or South American origin and of other Hispanic origin, not shown separately. | ||||||||
| 2Data not shown where base is less than 35,000. | ||||||||
| SOURCE: "6. Employment Status of the Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban-Origin Population by Sex and Age," in Employment and Earnings, June 2003, U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003 [Online] http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsa2002.pdf [accessed March 11, 2004] | ||||||||
unemployed for longer periods, especially during a recession. As a result, they are more likely to be labeled long-term unemployed (those without work for at least twenty-seven weeks).
In December 2003 the unemployment rate for African-American men twenty years and older (9.3 percent) was nearly double that of white men (4.7 percent) in the same age group. African-American females age twenty and older (9.7 percent) had more than twice the unemployment rate of white females (4.3 percent) twenty years and older. (See Table 3.1.)
Large numbers of African-Americans are classified as discouraged workers—persons not in the labor force who want jobs but have stopped looking because they do not think they can find them. Discouraged workers are not included among the unemployment figures.
Unemployment among young African-Americans ages sixteen to nineteen was 27.3 percent. In comparison, the unemployment rate for white teens in the same age group was 14.8 percent in December 2003. (See Table 3.1.)
Hispanic Americans
The unemployment rate for Hispanics in December 2003 was 6.6 percent, compared to 5 percent for whites and 10.3 percent for African-Americans. (See Table 3.2.) That was an improvement over the 8 percent unemployment rate for Hispanics in December 2002.
The unemployment rate varies among Hispanic subsets. Of these groups, the Puerto Rican-origin population had the highest rate of unemployment in 2002 at 9.4 percent. Cuban Americans had the lowest rate of unemployment (6.7 percent), compared to 7.5 percent for Mexican Americans. (See Table 3.3.)
Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders
Unemployment figures for Asian-American/Pacific Islanders are similar to those for non-Hispanic whites. In March 2002 the unemployment rate for APIs was 5.7 percent, somewhat below the 6.2 percent figure for the U.S. population. Non-Hispanic whites had an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent in March 2002. (See Table 3.6.) The low rate of unemployment among APIs can be attributed,
TABLE 3.4
Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 25 years and over by educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 2001–02
(Numbers in thousands)
| Total | Men | Women | White | Black | Hispanic origin | |||||||
| Educational attainment | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 |
| Total | ||||||||||||
| Civilian noninstitutional population | 180,287 | 182,228 | 85,813 | 86,813 | 94,474 | 95,415 | 150,554 | 151,827 | 20,065 | 20,382 | 19,018 | 19,948 |
| Civilian labor force | 121,275 | 122,497 | 65,176 | 65,861 | 56,099 | 56,636 | 100,854 | 101,711 | 13,646 | 13,787 | 13,536 | 14,162 |
| Percent of population | 67.3 | 67.2 | 76.0 | 75.9 | 59.4 | 59.4 | 67.0 | 67.0 | 68.0 | 67.6 | 71.2 | 71.0 |
| Employed | 116,846 | 116,802 | 62,824 | 62,756 | 54,021 | 54,046 | 97,560 | 97,476 | 12,797 | 12,719 | 12,817 | 13,294 |
| Employment-population ratio | 64.8 | 64.1 | 73.2 | 72.3 | 57.2 | 56.6 | 64.8 | 64.2 | 63.8 | 62.4 | 67.4 | 66.6 |
| Unemployed | 4,429 | 5,695 | 2,351 | 3,105 | 2,078 | 2,590 | 3,295 | 4,235 | 849 | 1,068 | 718 | 868 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.7 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 6.2 | 7.7 | 5.3 | 6.1 |
| Less than a high school diploma | ||||||||||||
| Civilian noninstitutional population | 28,602 | 28,382 | 13,618 | 13,700 | 14,984 | 14,682 | 22,908 | 22,610 | 4,211 | 4,238 | 8,119 | 8,386 |
| Civilian labor force | 12,581 | 12,599 | 7,680 | 7,833 | 4,901 | 4,766 | 10,217 | 10,162 | 1,691 | 1,728 | 4,971 | 5,141 |
| Percent of population | 44.0 | 44.4 | 56.4 | 57.2 | 32.7 | 32.5 | 44.6 | 44.9 | 40.2 | 40.8 | 61.2 | 61.3 |
| Employed | 11,669 | 11,535 | 7,188 | 7,220 | 4,480 | 4,315 | 9,550 | 9,394 | 1,492 | 1,498 | 4,601 | 4,744 |
| Employment-population ratio | 40.8 | 40.6 | 52.8 | 52.7 | 29.9 | 29.4 | 41.7 | 41.5 | 35.4 | 35.3 | 56.7 | 56.6 |
| Unemployed | 912 | 1,064 | 491 | 613 | 421 | 451 | 668 | 769 | 200 | 231 | 370 | 397 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.2 | 8.4 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 9.5 | 6.5 | 7.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 7.4 | 7.7 |
| High school graduates, no college | ||||||||||||
| Civilian noninstitutional population | 58,621 | 58,861 | 27,018 | 27,156 | 31,603 | 31,704 | 49,299 | 49,360 | 7,034 | 7,141 | 5,285 | 5,622 |
| Civilian labor force | 37,644 | 37,764 | 20,132 | 20,241 | 17,512 | 17,523 | 31,257 | 31,290 | 4,850 | 4,883 | 3,974 | 4,167 |
| Percent of population | 64.2 | 64.2 | 74.5 | 74.5 | 55.4 | 55.3 | 63.4 | 63.4 | 68.9 | 68.4 | 75.2 | 74.1 |
| Employed | 36,078 | 35,779 | 19,274 | 19,154 | 16,804 | 16,624 | 30,126 | 29,836 | 4,492 | 4,453 | 3,796 | 3,921 |
| Employment-population ratio | 61.5 | 60.8 | 71.3 | 70.5 | 53.2 | 52.4 | 61.1 | 60.4 | 63.9 | 62.4 | 71.8 | 69.7 |
| Unemployed | 1,566 | 1,985 | 858 | 1,087 | 708 | 898 | 1,131 | 1,454 | 358 | 430 | 178 | 247 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.2 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 7.4 | 8.8 | 4.5 | 5.9 |
| Less than a bachelor's degree1 | ||||||||||||
| Civilian noninstitutional population | 45,709 | 45,968 | 20,858 | 20,963 | 24,851 | 25,005 | 38,264 | 38,349 | 5,466 | 5,582 | 3,452 | 3,569 |
| Civilian labor force | 33,696 | 33,616 | 16,857 | 16,802 | 16,839 | 16,814 | 27,893 | 27,786 | 4,302 | 4,342 | 2,804 | 2,880 |
| Percent of population | 73.7 | 73.1 | 80.8 | 80.2 | 67.8 | 67.2 | 72.9 | 72.5 | 78.7 | 77.8 | 81.2 | 80.7 |
| Employed | 32,586 | 32,094 | 16,302 | 16,032 | 16,284 | 16,062 | 27,063 | 26,650 | 4,086 | 4,053 | 2,697 | 2,723 |
| Employment-population ratio | 71.3 | 69.8 | 78.2 | 76.5 | 65.5 | 64.2 | 70.7 | 69.5 | 74.8 | 72.6 | 78.1 | 76.3 |
| Unemployed | 1,110 | 1,523 | 555 | 770 | 555 | 752 | 829 | 1,136 | 215 | 289 | 107 | 157 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.3 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 6.7 | 3.8 | 5.4 |
in part, to their high educational attainment and their commitment to small family businesses.
Native Americans
It is as difficult to determine the unemployment rate for Native Americans as it is to determine the employment rate. Based on data from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the proportion of those unemployed and seeking work ranged from 12 percent in Texas to 74 percent in South Dakota. It should be noted that the population served by the BIA in South Dakota was 58,000, compared to only 1,320 in Texas. Those served by the BIA usually live either on or adjacent to reservations, especially in South Dakota, and, in most cases, reservations do not generate jobs necessary to support Native American families. This is a major reason that the leadership on Native American reservations has been so willing to introduce or expand casino gambling on their reservations.
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