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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2017)
June 7, 2017 The Skanner CAREERS EDITION Page 3 Job Prospects Mixed for Black Workers Last Month CAREERS Oregon’s Unemployment Rate Reaches Record Low 3.7 Percent Oregon Employment Department By Freddie Allen NNPA Newswire O “ PHOTO BY FLAZINGO (CC BY-SA 2.0) E ven though Black women lost ground in the labor market last month, the unemploy- ment rate for Black work- ers dipped below 8 percent for the first time since Jan- uary 2017, according to the latest jobs report from the Labor Department. Not only did the unem- ployment (UE) rate for Black workers improve, the labor force participation rate (LFPR), which is the share of people in the labor market who have jobs or who are looking for work, also moved in a positive direction. The labor force participation rate for Black workers increased from 62.3 percent in March to 62.5 percent in April. The employment-population ratio (E-POP), or the share of the population with jobs, climbed a few notches from The unemployment rate for Black workers dipped below 8 percent for the first time since January 2017, according to the latest jobs report from the Labor Department. third month in a row, the labor force rate for Black working women was flat at (62.7 percent). The E-POP took a few steps back from the 58.6 percent mark set in March to 58.4 percent in April. The unemployment rate for Black women in- creased from 6.6 percent to 6.9 percent in April. The unemployment rate for Black workers dipped below 8 percent for the first time since January 2017, according to the latest jobs report from the La- bor Department. 57.3 percent to 57.6 percent in April. The jobless rate for White workers decreased from 3.9 percent in March to 3.8 percent in April, and so did the labor force partici- pation rate. The E-POP for White workers was flat. April was a good month for Black men over 20 years-old; the three main indicators (UE, LFPR and E-POP) all moved in pos- itive directions. The un- employment rate for that group improved from 8.2 percent in March to 7.3 per- cent last month. Meanwhile, White, work- ing men over 20 years- old, who looked for jobs in April, found them, for the most part. The labor force participation rate for White men was flat at 71.9 percent, but the employ- ment-population ratio for that group increased from 69.2 percent in March to 69.4 percent in April. The unemployment rate for White men improved from 3.6 percent in March to 3.4 percent in April. White working women over 20 years-old, took loss- es in two out of the three key market indicators last month and their unemploy- ment rate was flat (3.5 per- cent), likely due to White women exiting the labor market. April’s jobs report was a tough one for Black women over 20 years-old. For the Economists say that the measures of labor market indicators for minority subgroups are more prone to wild swings, because the survey sample sizes are smaller for minority workers compared to the sample size for White workers. Economists also say that the public shouldn’t make much out of a single job re- port and should in- stead watch for trends. One of those trends, was an increase in “an- nual work hours for all workers, especial- ly low-wage African American workers and women,” from 1979 to 2015, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a think tank focused on the needs of low- and mid- dle-income workers. In a recent post on EPI’s website, Valerie Rawlston Wilson, the director of the Pro- gram on Race, Ethnic- ity, and the Economy (PREE) for the think tank, noted that work- ing moms were “signif- icant contributors to this trend.” More than half of all Black female workers are moms compared to roughly 44 percent of White female workers. “African American working moms are uniquely central to the economic well-being of their families,” wrote Wil- son. “To begin with, more than two-thirds of all Af- rican American working mothers are single moms, making them the primary, if not sole, economic pro- viders for their families. By comparison, 29.6 percent of white working mothers and 47.9 percent of Hispan- ic working mothers are sin- gle.” Black married women with children also worked more hours per year and earned less money per hour than White married women with children, ac- cording to EPI. “What’s behind this greater attachment to the labor force? For African American women, it may have to do with higher rates of Black unemployment and racial pay and wealth See JOBS on page 7 regon’s unemployment rate edged down to 3.7 percent in April from 3.8 percent in March, reaching a new record low since comparable re- cords began in 1976. The U.S. un- employment rate fell to 4.4 per- cent in April. Oregon’s rate was significantly below its year-ago rate of 5.0 percent in April 2016. In April, nonfarm payroll em- ployment rose by 6,600 following a revised gain of 1,300 in March. Gains were widespread among the industries, with eight of the 14 ma- jor industries each adding close to 1,000 jobs. Meanwhile only three industries cut jobs, and those loss- es were modest: government (-700 jobs), wholesale trade (-500), and information (-300). Over the past 12 months, Or- egon’s total nonfarm payroll employment rose 39,100, or 2.1 percent, which was a decelera- tion from the growth rate near or above 3 percent throughout much of the past four years. Despite the deceleration, Oregon is still grow- ing faster than the U.S. growth rate of 1.6 percent. Since April 2016, Oregon’s con- struction sector grew the fastest of the major industries, adding 6,400 jobs, or 7.2 percent. Within con- struction, specialty trade contrac- tors and construction of buildings grew quickly. Transportation, warehousing and utilities (+3,600 jobs, or 6.0%) also expanded rap- idly, due to growth in transporta- tion and warehousing. Profession- al and business services (+8,700 jobs, or 3.7%) was the third-fastest growing major industry catego- ry. It was led by strong job gains in employment services. Health care and social assistance (+6,800 jobs, or 3.0%) rounded out the list of fastest growing industries, as each of its four component indus- tries added jobs at a rapid clip. The Oregon Employment De- partment and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) work coop- eratively to develop and publish monthly Oregon payroll employ- ment and labor force data. The es- timates of monthly job gains and losses are based on a survey of businesses. The estimates of un- employment are based on a survey of households and other sources. The Oregon Employment De- partment publishes payroll employment estimates that are revised quarterly by using em- ployment counts from employer unemployment insurance tax records. All department publica- tions use this Official Oregon Se- ries data unless noted otherwise. This month’s release incorporates the October, November and De- cember 2016 tax records data. In addition, data for July through September 2016 were revised up- ward by a total of 600 to 1,300 jobs per month. The department con- tinues to make the original non- farm payroll employment series available; these data are produced by the BLS. The pdf version of the news re- lease, including tables and graphs, can be found at www.QualityInfo. org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit www.QualityInfo.org, then within the top banner, select Economic Data, then choose LAUS or CES. To request the press re- lease as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release. For help finding jobs and train- ing resources, visit one of the state’s WorkSource Oregon Cen- ters or go to: www.WorkSourceO- regon.org.