Black unemployment fell slightly for second straight month

Black unemployment fell by two-tenths of a percentage point in June from 14.9 percent to 14.7 percent the month before, marking the second straight month of declines in the rate, according to the Labor Department.

Despite the minor drop in unemployment, the black unemployment rate remained more than 5 points higher than the overall unemployment rate, which checked in at 9.5 percent, a modest one-tenth of a percentage point increase from May. The black unemployment rate previously fell from 15 percent to 14.9 percent, which was 5.5 percentage points higher than the overall unemployment rate for all Americans.

Black unemployment was significantly higher than white unemployment (8.7 percent) and a full two and a half points higher than the Hispanic unemployment rate (12.2 percent).

Gender disparities continue to persist in unemployment data. The unemployment rate for black men was 16.4 percent in June, while the black women's unemployment rate was 11.3 percent. The black women's unemployment rate was closer to the rate for white men (9.2 percent) than the black men's rate. But white women recorded the lowest unemployment rate at only 6.8 percent.

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that overall nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in June, shedding 467,000 jobs. Overall job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The total number of unemployed persons stood at 14.7 million, an increase of 7.2 million since the start of the recession in December 2007. The overall unemployment rate has risen by 4.6 percentage points since the recession began, and some analysts have been predicting the U.S. will see double digit unemployment by year's end. 

The government data also revealed the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 433,000 in June, bringing the total number to 4.4 million.