Jobs Report Still Bleak for Black Workers Under 30

The U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in January, according to a Labor Department report released Friday.

By Jorge Rivas Feb 01, 2013

The U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in January, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. Retail trade, construction, health care, and wholesale trade added jobs over the month, according to the report.

The Labor Department breaks down the numbers by worker groups:

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.3 percent), adult women (7.3 percent), teenagers (23.4 percent), whites (7.0 percent), blacks (13.8 percent), and Latinos (9.7 percent) showed little or no change in January. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier.

Generation Opportunity, a non-partisan organization advocating for Millennials ages 18-29, breaks down January jobs numbers for millennials. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29 year olds:

The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically for January 2013 was 13.1 percent (NSA).

The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans for January 2013 was 22.1 percent (NSA); the youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics for January 2013 was 13.0 percent (NSA); and the youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old women for January 2013 was 11.6 percent (NSA).

The declining labor participation rate has created an additional 1.7 million young adults that are not counted as "unemployed" by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.

If the labor force participation rate were factored into the 18-29 youth unemployment calculation, the actual 18-29-unemployment rate would rise to 16.2 percent (NSA).

"President Obama says America should be ‘investing in the generation that will build its future,’ yet four years of his government-driven economic policies have left us with record youth unemployment and an economy that is literally shrinking. My generation is suffering disproportionately," said Terence Grado, Director of National and State Policy at Generation Opportunity, in a statement. "Instead of staying the course and doubling down on failure, we need a new strategy that encourages the private sector to grow, invest, and provide real opportunities for the millions of young people who have great skills, are ready to contribute, and have waited long enough."