This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

The January 2025 Employment Situation Summary reveals slight improvements in the overall labor market, with the unemployment rate declining to 4.0% from 4.1% in December 2024. However, disparities persist across racial and ethnic groups. Key Trends and Racial Disparities: White Unemployment: 3.5% (down from 3.6%) – continues to be lower than the national average, reflecting stronger labor market stability. Black Unemployment: 6.2% (up from 6.1%) – remains the highest among racial groups, highlighting persistent structural inequities in job access and quality. Asian Unemployment: 3.7% (up from 3.5%) – showing volatility but still relatively low. Hispanic Unemployment: 4.8% (down from 5.1%) – showing the largest improvement, dropping below the 5.0% mark. Additional Observations: Teen unemployment remains elevated at 11.8%, but has improved from 12.4% in December. Adult women saw an improvement, with their unemployment rate dropping to 3.7%. The labor force participation rate increased sl...

  White Unemployment Seasonally Adjusted: 3.8%, showing stability over the last few months with no major fluctuations. Trend Observation: The White unemployment rate has remained relatively steady over the past year, maintaining a low rate with minor variations. Black Unemployment 6.4% in November 2024, showing an increase from 5.7% in September and October 2024. This represents a notable uptick in unemployment. Trend Observation: The Black unemployment rate continues to demonstrate volatility and remains significantly higher than other groups. The recent increase in November indicates persistent challenges for this demographic in the labor market. Asian Population 3.8% in November 2024, a slight decrease from 4.1% in September and October, suggesting marginal improvement. Trend Observation: Asian unemployment remains among the lowest, with November showing improvement compared to earlier in the year. Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity 5.3% in November 2024, slightly increased from 5.1% ...

September, 2024 Unemployment: Key Findings White unemployment stands at 3.6% , relatively stable compared to earlier months. Black unemployment  at 5.7% , a significant decrease from its peak of 6.4% in March 2024. Asian unemployment remains low at 4.1% , showing little fluctuation. Hispanic or Latino unemployment  at 5.1% , consistent with previous months. Analysis: Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 254,000 in September, and the unemployment rate fell from 4.2 to 4.1 percent. The higher unemployment rates among Black individuals continue to signify systemic employment challenges. Asian individuals have maintained a lower unemployment rate, while Hispanic or Latino populations also face notable but slightly elevated rates compared to Asians. While the decline in Black unemployment suggests some improvement, it remains significantly higher than other groups. Conclusion: The September, 2024 unemployment data highlights ongoing disparities in employment across raci...

In July 2024, the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, accompanied by an increase in nonfarm payroll employment by 114,000 jobs. This result reflects ongoing sector-specific dynamics and variations across different demographic groups. Key sectors such as health care , construction, and transportation and warehousing experienced job growth, while the information sector saw job losses. Sectoral Employment Trends 1. Health Care: Continued to show strong job growth , a trend consistent with the increasing demand for health services and an aging population. 2. Construction: Experienced an upward trend in employment, likely driven by ongoing infrastructure projects and residential construction activities. 3. Transportation and Warehousing: Benefited from the sustained demand for logistics and delivery services, partially due to e-commerce growth. 4. Information Sector: Faced job losses, potentially due to restructuring, automation, and the evolving digital landscape reducing demand for tradi...

Our Fully Adjusted Return (tm) model predicted Black Unemployment would fall from 9.5% in June to 9.1% in July.  The forecast was confirmed this morning by the US Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The difference between Black and White unemployment now stands at 4.5%. We note this is the second lowest differential of the Obama Presidency, surpassed only by a 4.0% differential in February, 2008. Our Fully Adjusted Return model shows that the difference is poised, assuming the Fed does not raise rates, to fall further. See:  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm  

We created the chart at left showing black versus white unemployment in August, 2011. Black unemployment was reported at 16.7%, higher than the 16.2% rate reported in August 2010. Black unemployment was 15.5% in July, 2011. White unemployment fell to 8% in August from 8.1% in July, 2011. Further, white unemployment was 8.7% in August, 2010. I think this puts the recession into clear perspective. While some (the Tea Party in particular) have done a lot of whining, they are in no way, shape or form bearing the brunt of this recession.