The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently noted that the national unemployment rate for the month of June had dipped to 6.3%, the lowest rate since September 2008. But the unemployment rate for African Americans as a demographic is much higher.
According to statistics from the Department of Labor, that non-seasonally adjusted rate now stands at 11.1%, the highest of any demographic group. For whites, that rate is 5.5% and for Asians that rate is 5.1%. The National Urban League’s “One Nation Underemployed: Jobs Rebuild America,” noted that the underemployment rate for African American workers was 20.5%.
The African American employment-population ratio for June is at 54.8%, which means when you factor in the 12 million-plus Americans who remain out of work, nearly half the black population is still looking for jobs.
RELATED: 10 Reasons You’re Still Unemployed
But as bad as it is, some states are worse than others when it comes to trying to eke out a living without a weekly paycheck. BlackEnterprise.com pulled figures from The Bureau of Labor Statistics Geographic Profile Service to find the rate of unemployed blacks for the year 2013, the last time the numbers were calculated.
We also pulled the 10 worst states to live according to the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch. Check them out on the following page …
TENNESSEE
Percent unemployed getting benefits: 16% (tied, 2nd lowest)
Unemployment rate: 6.3% (19th highest)
Black Unemployment Rate (2013): 15%
Nashville and Memphis rank among 40 of the country’s cities employing the fewest African Americans.
According to MarketWatch, the average unemployment insurance was $232, or just 27.6% of the weekly average wage in Tennessee—both well below the $312 and 33% averages for the nation, respectively.
Only 16% of people who applied for unemployment insurance received it, less than in all but two other states.
LOUISIANA
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 20% (tied- seventh lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 24.8% (second lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.5% (10th lowest)
Black Unemployment Rate (2013): 12.2%
Louisiana out-of-job workers receive an average of $208 a week in the 12 months through the first quarter of 2014, less than all but two other states.
Unemployment insurance benefits are 24.8% of workers’ previous average wages, the second-lowest rate in the nation.
Only 20% of the unemployed received benefits, well below the nationwide share of 27%.
GEORGIA
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 16% (tied-second lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 30% (13th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7% (eighth highest)
Black Unemployment Rate (2013): 13.5%
Georgia’s strong job growth could explain why residents spent only 11 weeks on average collecting unemployment insurance, the shortest period in the country. However, only 16% of applicants for unemployment insurance actually received it. This was tied with Tennessee for the nation’s second-lowest rate. Of those who received benefits, the average benefits amounted to just 30% of the average weekly wage, one of the lowest in the nation.
VIRGINIA
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 19% (sixth lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 30.7% (15th lowest)
Unemployment rate: 4.9% (15th lowest)
Black Unemployment Rate (2013): 9.6%
Just 19% of out-of-work residents in Virginia received unemployment benefits in the first quarter of 2014.
MarketWatch says it’s likely many of the unemployed simply ran out of benefit eligibility. According to the Department of Labor, during that time the state’s exhaustion rate – a rough measure of how many workers have exhausted their unemployment benefits – was 48%. This was one of the highest rates in the nation.
ARIZONA
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 17% (tied-fourth lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 25.3% (third lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.9% (tied-ninth highest)
Black Unemployment Rate (2013): 15.3%
Unemployed Arizona residents received an average of $221 in benefits. That’s only 25.3% of their average weekly wage, less than in all but two other states.
Only 17% of the unemployed received benefits in the 12 months through the first quarter of the year. The state’s underemployment rate during that time was 16.1%, third worst nationwide behind only California and Nevada.
ILLINOIS
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 26% (24th lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 32.3% (17th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.9% (third highest)
Black Unemployment rate (2013): 17%
Illinois’ April unemployment rate of 7.9% was among the highest in the nation, likely due in part to tepid job creation. Nearly three-quarters of the states’ unemployed didn’t receive benefits, less than in about half of all states. Illinois’ underemployment rate, was 15.6%. This was higher than in all but four other states.
KENTUCKY
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 20% (tied-seventh lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 37.5% (19th highest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.7% (fifth highest)
Black Unemployment rate (2013): 13.2%
Kentucky is generous with its unemployment insurance, offering 37.5% of the average weekly wage in benefits. But only 20% of total applicants actually received benefits. Kentucky’s 7.7% unemployment rate is the fifth highest in the country. Those who received unemployment insurance received benefits for nearly 22 weeks, the longest period of any state in the country.
MICHIGAN
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 23% (16th lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 32.6% (18th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.4% (seventh highest)
Black Unemployment Rate (2013): 16.5%
Michigan’s unemployed workers received unemployment insurance benefits for an average of slightly more than 13 weeks. This was lower than in all but five other states and more than three weeks less than the average length nationwide. Additionally, only 23% of people who applied for unemployment insurance received benefits, among the lower rates for applications nationwide.
Michigan’s underemployment rate of 15.2% was one of the highest in the U.S.
The state’s unemployment rate of 7.4% in April was also among the highest in the nation.
ALABAMA
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 24% (18th lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 26.2% (sixth lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.9% (tied-ninth highest)
Black Unemployment Rate (2013): 12.1%
Alabama was one of the most stingy with its unemployment insurance, with residents receiving 26.2% of average
weekly income, the sixth lowest coverage in the country. The recipiency rate was also slightly below the national rate of 27%. While unemployment was 6.9%, roughly in line with the national rate of 6.7%, underemployment in Alabama was a full percentage point lower than the national underemployment rate.MISSISSIPPI
Percent Unemployed Getting Benefits: 22% (14th lowest)
Percent Average Weekly Wage Covered: 28.3% (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.5% (sixth highest)
Black Unemployment rate (2013): 13.9%
According to MarketWatch, Mississippi is the worst state in the country in which to be unemployed. With an average of just $194 a week, it is the only state offering unemployed residents less than $200 a week. This accounted for 28.3% of the average weekly wage in the year preceding April 2014, much lower than the 33% coverage unemployed Americans received nationwide.
Only 22% of applicants received unemployment benefits, below the national rate of 27%.