Unemployment for Black and Hispanic women rose in February, but more workers join the labor force

The unemployment complaint for Black and Hispanic women roseate successful February, but truthful did the fig of radical looking for jobs.

The U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% successful February from 3.4% the anterior month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics connected Friday. Women aged 20 and implicit successful the labour unit tracked that move, with the unemployment complaint rising somewhat to 3.2% from 3.1%.

The quality is much stark among Black and Hispanic women. Black women saw their unemployment complaint leap to 5.1% from 4.7%. Among Hispanic women, it jumped to 4.8% from 4.4%.

Both groups saw their labour unit information rates — a metric that shows however galore workers are employed oregon successful hunt of enactment — rise.

For Black women, it jumped to 63% from 62.6%, portion the employment-population ratio that shows the proportionality of radical employed ticked somewhat higher to 59.8% from 59.7%. For Hispanic women, the labour unit information complaint roseate somewhat to 61.3% from 61.1%, portion the employment-population ratio stayed unchanged astatine 58.4%.

That could suggest broader weakness successful the labour marketplace adjacent amid a stronger-than-expected jobs report, according to AFL-CIO main economist William Spriggs. In February, the U.S. system added 311,000 payrolls, though the unemployment complaint ticked up and wages roseate slightly.

"The Federal Reserve has characterized the labour marketplace as, 'Oh, the labour marketplace is truthful tight, employers can't find anybody,' but women went out, they looked, and immoderate of them did get jobs, but a batch of them didn't," Spriggs said.

"So obviously, there's a batch more workers than disposable jobs. And there's a batch of country near successful the labour marketplace to recover," helium added.

Still, Valerie Wilson, manager astatine the Economic Policy Institute's programme connected race, ethnicity and the economy, urged against putting excessively overmuch banal into 1 month's report, noting that the rising labour unit information complaint shows much assurance successful the labour market.

She attributed little employment among Black women to a slower betterment successful the nationalist sector, which employs a much important stock of Black workers successful education. Meanwhile, leisure and hospitality continues to retrieve from losses during the pandemic, which boosts employment among Hispanic women.

Wilson pointed retired an upbeat uncovering successful this latest payrolls report.

"One of the agleam spots oregon affirmative things successful this study successful presumption of women's employment is that, again, looking astatine industries that employment a important fig of women, we saw accrued employment successful those," said Wilson, citing rises successful wellness care, government, retail, leisure and hospitality sectors.

"So the information that those industries are inactive adding jobs suggests to maine that determination are continuing to beryllium further employment opportunities for women astatine slightest arsenic acold arsenic the demographics of those industries are concerned," she said.

-CNBC's Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.