This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

The unemployment report for March 2025, to be released on Friday at 8:30 am, is anticipated to reflect a significant spike in Black unemployment, building upon trends identified earlier this year. Our previous forecast, which initially expected unemployment spikes earlier in the year, was ahead of schedule, as employment losses among Black workers in government and public-sector jobs took slightly longer to materialize. According to our latest forecast for February 2025, out of a civilian noninstitutional Black population of approximately 35.6 million, about 22.1 million were participating in the labor force. At that point, around 20.7 million Black individuals were employed, resulting in an employment-population ratio of 58.1% and implying approximately 1.4 million unemployed Black workers. Given the significant February job cuts predominantly in the government sector, as  highlighted by the Black Enterprise article citing our report , it is expected that these cuts will become fu...

Creative Investment Research has revised its February 2025 unemployment forecast ahead of the March 7, 2025, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, incorporating worsening economic conditions reflected in the latest Atlanta Federal Reserve GDPNow projections. The U.S. economy is now expected to shrink by 2.8% in Q1 2025, a sharp downward revision from -1.5% just days earlier, signaling deeper-than-expected economic contraction and potentially accelerating job losses across key industries. The latest data show that personal consumption expenditures growth has fallen to 0.0%, indicating a near standstill in consumer spending, while private fixed investment growth has dropped to 0.1%, reflecting a sharp pullback in business investment. These factors are expected to have a direct impact on the labor market, leading to a more pronounced rise in unemployment than initially forecast. Revised Unemployment Forecast for February 2025 1. Overall Unemployment Rate Likely to Rise to 4.2% An inc...

Key Trends White Unemployment: Steady Rate : The unemployment rate for white workers has remained largely consistent, fluctuating between 3.1% to 3.8% from April 2023 to August 2024 . This shows stability with no major spikes, indicating that the white workforce has seen fewer disruptions during this period. Recent Increase : There's a slight uptick in July 2024 and August 2024 at 3.8% , but it's  within a stable range. Black/African American Unemployment: Higher Rates : The unemployment rate for Black workers is significantly higher, moving from 4.8% in April 2023 to 6.1% in August 2024 . This continues to reflect the long-standing disparity in unemployment rates compared to white workers. Fluctuations : There’s a notable rise in March 2024 where Black unemployment spiked to 6.4% , followed by slight drops and increases throughout the summer. These fluctuations may be attributed to sector-specific changes that disproportionately affect Black workers. Asian Unemployment: Lo...

Presenting a thought-provoking take: The latest unemployment rate for Black Americans may have risen because of a recent rash of anti-DEI efforts, mainly from the education and corporate sectors. According to a new report by Creative Investment Research, the higher jobless rate for Blacks nationwide in March 2024 potentially stems from specific incidents that accentuate the impact of anti-DEI measures on Black employment. That analysis was provided to BLACK ENTERPRISE by William Michael Cunningham, an economist and the owner of Creative Investment Research in Washington, D.C. In his report, Cunningham explained that the unemployment rate for whites stayed relatively stable from January 2023 to March 2024, hitting between 3.1% and 3.5%. For Blacks, he says the rate rose from 5.4% to 5.8% in November 2023 before falling to 5.2% in December 2023 but soared to 6.4% in March 2024. Conversely, Cunningham noted the unemployment rate for Asians is lower among all groups. It was 3.5% in Novemb...