In contrast to overall trends, the unemployment rate among Black Americans increased in March.

• Despite a decrease in the overall unemployment rate to 3.8% last month, the unemployment rate for Black workers increased to 6.4% from 5.6% in February.
• The spike in unemployment was particularly noticeable for Black women, with their unemployment rate rising from 4.4% to 5.6%.

The unemployment rate for Black Americans increased in March, as per data from the Department of Labor that was made public on Friday.

Last month, the unemployment rate for black Americans rose to 6.4%, an increase from 5.6% in February. This is higher than the overall unemployment rate, which decreased to 3.8%, as well as the 3.4% jobless rate for white Americans, which remained unchanged from February.

The unemployment rate for Black women aged 20 or older increased to 5.6% from 4.4% in February, while Black men's jobless rates rose slightly to 6.2% from 6.1%.

Elise Gould, a senior economist at The Economic Policy Institute, stated that the unemployment rate for Black Americans has been steadily increasing since December. She pointed out that while it is not yet alarming, it is something that needs to be closely monitored in the coming months.

The surge in March's increase was mainly due to Black women, but Gould pointed out that the unemployment rates for both sexes have risen in the past four months. She also warned that monthly data for demographic groups can be highly volatile.

The labor force participation rate among Black Americans decreased to 63.6% from 63.7% in February, with Black women's rate dropping to 63% from 63.4%, and Black men's rate decreasing to 69.6% from 69.8%.

Gould stated that although people are searching for more job prospects, not all of them are obtaining them, which is contributing to the increasing unemployment rate.

In comparison to the overall U.S. labor market participation rate, which increased from 62.5% in February to 62.7% in March.

In 2020, the unemployment rate for Black workers reached a high of 16.8%, which was higher than the overall unemployment rate's peak of 14.7% during the same month, and Black Americans were the most affected by Covid-induced business shutdowns.

The unemployment rate for Hispanic Americans decreased from 5% to 4.5% last month, while the unemployment rate for Asians dropped from 3.4% to 2.5% in February.

— CNBC's Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.