Latest Employment Data Shows The Obama Economic Recovery Leaves Blacks Behind

Given President Obama’s economic policy has left blacks behind, it’s not a surprise that black voters were not energized during the midterm elections.

According to the employment data for the month of October from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), black unemployment has gotten worse. In contrast, the employment picture improved for other Americans.

From CNSNews:

The number of African Americans who were employed in the United States in October dropped by 41,000; and the number of African-Americans not participating in the labor force increased by 114,000.

However, the employment picture for all Americans aged 16 and older improved from September to October, as the overall unemployment rate declined from 5.9 percent to 5.8 percent, the number of employed increased from 146,600,000 to 147,283,000, and the number of unemployed decreased from 9,262,000 to 8,995,000.

Similarly, the labor participation rate – the percentage of Americans who can work that are either employed or are actively looking for work, also showed a difference between blacks and other demographic groups. For blacks:

The participation rate dipped to 61.4 percent in October from 61.7 percent in September. African Americans who did not have a job and did not actively seek one in the past four weeks increased by 114,000 to 11,964,000 in October from 11,850,000 in September.

The labor participation rate for all Americans increased to 62.8 percent from 62.7 percent, adding 206,000 individuals working or actively looking for work.

As the latest job report illustrates, ironically, the first black president has done more harm than good to the black community.