Business

Black Unemployment Dips to 10.3 Percent

Published

12 years ago

February 10, 2015

Oakland Post

Economist Valerie R. Wilson believes Black unemployment can fall to single digits.

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – The Black unemployment rate fell slightly from 10.4 percent in December to 10.3 percent in January and is still on track to hit single digits by the middle of the year.

Last month, Valerie Wilson, the director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy for the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan think tank focused on low- and middle-income workers, made the prediction that the Black jobless rate would fall below 10 percent, adding that the economy is recovering gradually and lawmakers shouldn’t do anything that would stall that progress.

Wilson warned that more spending cuts or raising interest rates could slow down the economy.

“If there are no signs of inflationary pressures, I don’t see the rush to do it,” said Wilson.

Economists attributed the slight uptick in the national unemployment rate, from 5.6 percent in December to 5.7 percent in January, to workers feeling more confident about their job prospects and rejoining the labor force.

With revisions to the number of jobs added in November and December, the Labor Department reported that more than 1 million jobs were added to the United States economy over the past three months, the best 3-month average since 1997.

Following the national trend, the White unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent in December to 4.9 percent in January and the labor force participation rate, the share of workers who are employed or currently looking for jobs, also increased from 59.8 percent to 60.1 percent.

Even though, the Black labor force participation rate fell from 61.3 in December to 61 percent in January, it still remains higher than it was in January 2014. The participation rate for Black men over 20 years-old also decreased in January, but was one percentage point higher last month than it was this time last year.

Black women and White men and women over 20 years-old had higher participation rates in January 2015, compared to December 2014, but among the adult worker groups, only Black men had a higher labor force participation rate in January 2015 compared to January 2014.

The unemployment rate for Black men over 20 years old decreased from 11 percent in December to 10.6 percent in January, and the jobless rate for White men over 20 years old also increased from 4.4 percent to 4.5 percent in January.

The jobless rate for Black women rose from 8.2 percent in December to 8.7 percent in January and for the second month in a row, the jobless rate for White women was 4.4 percent.

In a statement on January’s jobs report Chad Stone, Chief Economist for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research and analysis group that works on federal and state fiscal policy, said that as the labor market continues to improve “significant slack” still lingers.

“Ongoing labor market slack is particularly hard on the long-term unemployed, whose skills tend to erode while they remain jobless and who often seem stigmatized for being out of work so long when they apply for a job,” said Stone. “It’s unfortunate that federal UI [unemployment insurance] benefits for the long-term unemployed expired at the end of 2013; it’s even more unfortunate that in recent years, several states have made it harder for people who lose their job through no fault of their own to qualify for any UI.”

Blacks disproportionately suffer from long-term unemployment and in an effort to address this crisis, Stone said that President Barack Obama has acknowledged these problems by including “a set of major UI proposals in his new budget request that would both shore up UI financing for the long term and reform the federal Extended Benefits program to make additional weeks of UI available automatically in states with high or rapidly rising unemployment rates.”

During a speech in Indianapolis, Ind., President Obama celebrated the latest jobs numbers and touted his middle-class economic philosophy crafted to help more working families afford higher education, get paid sick leave at work and save for retirement. Obama said “while we’ve come a long way, we’ve got more work to do to make sure that our recovery reaches more Americans, not just those at the top.”

Repeating a familiar theme, he said, “That’s what middle-class economics is all about – the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

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Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

Published

4 days ago

September 7, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Business

Longtime BWOPA Member Brendalyn Goodall Appointed to California Workforce Development Board

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board. Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Post Co-Publisher Gay Plair Cobb with Brendalynn Goodall. Courtesy photo.

By California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board.

Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on employment, aging services and assistance for underserved communities.

“Brendalynn will be a great addition to this Board,” said Gay Plair Cobb, who served as former state Assemblyman Sandre Swanson’s alternate to the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB).

“She understands that California’s non-profit organizations serve persons who have the most significant barriers to their labor market success and that the Board should help these groups navigate the complicated requirements of state funding.

“In other words, she will be a strong advocate for our most marginalized populations. Her voice is needed now, more than ever.”

CWDB works with the governor to shape workforce policies, programs and investments designed to strengthen the state’s economy. It collaborates with employers, workers, labor organizations, educational institutions, community groups and California’s 45 local workforce development boards to expand access to quality jobs and respond to regional employment needs.

According to the board, its work includes coordinating state programs and guiding investments in workforce training and development.

BWOPA California celebrated the appointment, describing Goodall as a dedicated advocate for workers, families and older adults.

“Her appointment reflects a lifetime of leadership, service, and unwavering commitment to strengthening California’s workforce and expanding opportunity for all,” the organization stated in a press release.

Goodall served as summer jobs program coordinator in the Oakland Mayor’s Office from 2012 to 2014. In that position, she helped connect young people with employment opportunities and job experience.

Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Goodall was division manager for Aging and Adult Services in the City of Oakland Human Services Department from 2002 to 2011. She previously served as senior services supervisor and program director for the city’s Department of Aging, Health and Human Services from 1990 to 2002.

Goodall is also a member of the California Commission on Aging, which advises the governor and state officials on policies and programs affecting older Californians.

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Black History

Jackie Wright Champions Bay Area Stories, Filmmakers and Cultural Institutions

As an award-winning communications professional, Wright has worked with corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, artists, and community organizations. In 2026, she expanded that work by launching an introductory public relations class for small businesses and nonprofits, offering practical tools for gaining visibility, shaping messages and building productive relationships with the media.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Jackie Wright of Wright Enterprises. Photo courtesy of Wright Enterprises.

By Carla Thomas

Jackie Wright has spent more than two decades helping people, organizations and communities understand the power of a well-told story.

As founder and president of Wright Enterprises, a San Francisco-based strategic communications and public affairs firm, Wright has built a career spanning journalism, public relations, media relations, crisis communications, community engagement and multimedia storytelling.

Wright’s commitment to storytelling is also deeply personal. She wrote and co-directed the 15-minute documentary, “Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor,” which chronicles the story of her parents, Specialist Five (S5 Wyley Wright Jr. and Ouida Fay McClendon Wright. Her father, a U.S. Army helicopter crew chief, died in Vietnam in 1964 while serving as an honor guard during a visit by then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Decades later, Wright and her siblings had their father exhumed from a segregated cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, and their mother moved from her burial place in Georgia so the couple could be reunited at Arlington National Cemetery in 2014.

The family journey later took Wright and her sister to Vietnam, where they discovered the former military compound that had been named in honor of their father and another fallen soldier. The documentary, centered on love, war, family, racial understanding, and remembrance, earned festival recognition at screenings.

“It was quite an honor to learn about my family’s history and share it on film,” said Wright.

That filmmaking experience complements Wright’s longstanding advocacy for independent cinema. She has served as a media partner and brand ambassador for Bay Area film festivals, including the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Oakland International Film Festival, and the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.

“It’s important to help filmmakers and underrepresented stories reach broader audiences,” said Wright.

Whether promoting a neighborhood organization, championing an independent filmmaker or preserving her own family history, Wright has remained consistent. Through Wright Enterprises, she has turned communications into both a profession and a form of community service, telling stories that might otherwise go unheard.

“Our stories are an integral part of our history, and our history is not only American history, but worldwide,” she said.