Unemployment falls more for black and Hispanics than it does for whites

The Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in January 2012, bringing its drop over the last year to 0.8 percentage points. African Americans in particular saw an especially sharp decline in unemployment, with their overall rate falling by 2.2 percentage points to 13.6%, the lowest level since March of 2009. The unemployment rate for African American men over age 20 fell by 3.0 percentage points to 12.7%, the lowest level since November of 2008. The drop for women over age 20 was 1.3 percentage points to 12.6%. The unemployment rate for Hispanics dropped by 0.5 percentage points to 10.5%, the lowest since January of 2009. The gains for whites were more modest, with the overall unemployment rate edging down by 0.1 percentage points to 7.4%. The unemployment rate for white men over age 20 fell by 0.2 percentage points to 6.9%, while it was unchanged for women over age 20 at 6.8%.