The December jobs report is out and it shows that Latinos continue to be unemployed at a higher rate than Americans overall but there are encouraging signs of improvement.
ABC/Univision reports, “The Hispanic unemployment rate remains higher than the national average at 9.6 percent, down slightly from the Hispanic unemployment rate of 10 percent in November.”
FoxNews Latino added, “The U.S. unemployment rate for Latinos fell to 9.6 percent in December, the lowest jobless rate in four years. December was also the fourth straight month the jobless rate has fallen below 10 percent. Prior to September 2012, the Latino unemployment rate had not gone under 10 percent in 44 consecutive months.
Unemployment remained virtually the same at 7.8 percent, from 7.7 percent in November. It dropped below 8 percent in September for the first time in nearly four years, according to the report.
It also said employment in healthcare, food services and drinking places, construction and manufacturing increased in November, while employment in retail industries, mining, financial services and other major industries showed little change. That could help explain problems for Latino job seekers because a lot of those areas with declines have higher rates of Latino employment.
According to FoxNews Latino, “The economic recovery for Latinos has been a roller coaster ride. The rate rose from 9.3 percent in December 2008 to 10 percent the following month, reaching a peak of 13 percent in August 2009. About 2.3 million Latinos were still unemployed and looking for work last month, down by about 91,000 from November and nearly 233,000 less than in December 2011.”
