African-American Unemployment up in March 2010, Black Men 19%

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, African-American Unemployment rose to 16.5% in March.  That’s up from 15.8% in February and 13.5% in March of 2009.

What’s even worse is the outlook for African-American men.  The unemployment rate for Black men in March was 19%.  That’s up from 17.8% last month and 16.4% this time last year.  The unemployment rate for Black women in March was 12.4%.

All this comes as the overall unemployment rate held at 9.7% for the third straight month.  And just in case you were wondering, the unemployment rate for African-Americans 16-19 years old is 41.1% compared with the overall rate of 23.7% for all Americans 16-19 years of age.