The unemployment rate among black teens was more than six times higher than the national average, and nearly double the overall teen unemployment rate last month, according to data released Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the BLS, the unemployment rate among black teens (ages 16-19) was 31.5 percent in September, up 0.2 percentage points over August’s unemployment rate. Nationally the teen (ages 16-19) unemployment rate for the month of September was 16.3 percent, down from the previous month’s 16.9 percent.
The national unemployment rate by comparison was 5.1 percent.
The black unemployment rate, meanwhile, remained much higher than the national average at 9.2 percent, down from August’s 9.5 percent.
The relatively poor jobs figures among black Americans come amid a rough September jobs report which had the economy adding just 142,00 jobs and the labor force participation rate hitting its lowest level since 1977, with a record 94.6 million Americans not working.
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