The unemployment rate decreased for Black and Hispanic men in September.

The unemployment rate decreased for Black and Hispanic men in September.
The unemployment rate decreased for Black and Hispanic men in September.
  • While the unemployment rate remained unchanged for Asian workers, Black and Hispanic workers saw a decrease in unemployment.
  • The jobless rate fell significantly for both Black and Hispanic men.
  • While the labor force participation rate increased among Black workers, it decreased among Asian and Hispanic workers.

In September, the unemployment rate for men in Black and Hispanic racial groups decreased, while remaining unchanged for other racial groups, as per data released by the Department of Labor on Friday.

In September, the jobless rate for Black men decreased to 5.1% from 5.9% in the previous month, while the jobless rate for Hispanic men also decreased to 4.1% from 4.8% in the previous month.

Despite the overall unemployment rate decreasing to 4.1% in September, this trend was not consistent across all sectors.

"Despite the Black unemployment rate being 1.5 times higher than white workers, it decreased in September to its lowest level since April, according to Bankrate economic analyst Sarah Foster. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for Hispanic workers also reached its lowest level since June."

In five months, Black workers have experienced their first decline in unemployment, according to Foster.

The jobless rates for other racial groups remained little changed or fell slightly. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for Asian workers held steady at 4.1%, while the rate for white workers inched down to 3.6% from 3.8% in September.

The unemployment rate for women across racial groups decreased slightly in September. Black and Hispanic women both experienced a 0.2% drop in unemployment, while white women saw a 0.3% decline. Unfortunately, the jobless rates for Asian women were not readily available.

The ratio of female prime-age workers to the total population decreased to its lowest point since May.

Despite decreasing from its recent record high in August, the prime-age labor force participation rate remains close to a historic high, according to Foster.

The labor force participation rate remained constant at 62.7% last month.

The rate of participation among white workers increased by 0.1 percentage point to 62.4%, while it decreased by 0.4 percentage point among Hispanic workers from 67.8% to 67.4%. The participation rate among Asian workers decreased by 0.2 percentage point from 65.5% to 65.3%, and among Black workers, it rose by 0.2 percentage point from 62.7% to 62.9%.

— CNBC's Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.

by Hakyung Kim

Markets