Latinos Outpace Blacks in the Recent Jobs Report

In the most recent jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hispanic Americans were found to be doing far better than African Americans when it comes to finding jobs in the economic downturn. Overall, unemployment for Hispanics was 12.5 percent, while unemployment for African Americans remained at 16.5 percent. Both of these numbers do not compare favorably to white unemployment, which is at 9 percent.

Differences between African Americans and Hispanics were also present for women and men when separated into different groups based on gender and age. Hispanic men had an unemployment rate of 11.2 percent, while black men saw their unemployment rate remain the highest of all demographics, at 18 percent. Hispanic women did better than African American women, with an unemployment rate of 11.1 percent, lower than the 13.7 percent rate for African American women. White women did better than any other demographic, maintaining an unemployment rate of 7.4 percent.

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Employment Around Globe

FILE - In this file photo taken April 27, 2010, job-seeker Julian Richards fills out an employment application during a job fair in Tacoma, Wash. Richards said he was seeking work to match his background and experience in sales and marketing. The economy got what it needed in April: A burst of hiring that added a net 290,000 jobs, the biggest monthly total in four years. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

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FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2009, file photo, Senate Homeland Security Committee member Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., talks with an aide on Capitol Hill in Washington. Louisana is a big employer in the oil and gas industry, and on the receiving end of washed-up oil from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Landrieu sits on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, one of the panels investigating the spill. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg, File)

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Fishermen employed by BP place boom on Lake Machias on May 9, 2010, to protect Louisiana's fragile wetlands, following a massive oil spill that is threatening the state's coastal islands. The area has been put off-limits for fishing and shrimping, threatening the livelihood of thousands of people working in the seafood industry, as concern grows over an impending environmental disaster from oil leaking under a sunken BP rig. AFP Photo/Alex OGLE (Photo credit should read Alex Ogle/AFP/Getty Images)

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Crab traps stand empty near Breton Sound Marina, Louisiana on May 9, 2010, with the area put off-limits for fishing because of a massive oil spill under a sunken BP rig, threatening the livelihood of thousands of people working in the seafood industry. Fishermen are being employed by BP to place boom in the region to protect Louisiana's fragile wetlands, following the huge spill off the Gulf coast. AFP Photo/Alex OGLE (Photo credit should read Alex Ogle/AFP/Getty Images)

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Sara Fender uses her mortar board to solicit employment during the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's commencement exercises, Sunday, May 9, 2010 in Chapel Hill, N.C. A journalism major from Gastonia, N.C., Fender hasn't found a job yet. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Takaaki Iwabu)

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WAYIN, KASHMIR, INDIA - MAY 08: Kashmiri youth subjected to physical test wait for their turn during a recruitment rally on May 08, 2010 near Pakistan border in Wayin, 100 Kms (62 miles) north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir. Lack of employment and opportunities in the war ravaged Kashmir valley is a major reason for hundreds of youth trying their hands at Indian military services, despite widespread enmity towards the Indian army which has been accused of grave human rights violations during the last two decades of armed conflict in Kashmir, experts say. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

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WAYIN, KASHMIR, INDIA - MAY 08: An Indian army officer measures the chest of a Kashmiri youth during a recruitment rally on May 08, 2010 near Pakistan border in Wayin, 100 Kms (62 miles) north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir. Lack of employment and opportunities in the war ravaged Kashmir valley is a major reason for hundreds of youth trying their hands at Indian military services, despite widespread enmity towards the Indian army which has been accused of grave human rights violations during the last two decades of armed conflict in Kashmir, experts say. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

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WAYIN, KASHMIR, INDIA - MAY 08: Kashmir youth do pull-ups during a recruitment rally on May 08, 2010 near Pakistan border in Wayin, 100 Kms (62 miles) north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir. Lack of employment and opportunities in the war ravaged Kashmir valley is a major reason for hundreds of youth trying their hands at Indian military services, despite widespread enmity towards the Indian army which has been accused of grave human rights violations during the last two decades of armed conflict in Kashmir, experts say. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

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The differentials for black and Hispanic teens were similar to those for adults. Hispanic teenagers have an unemployment rate of 29.2 percent, which is a drop from last month's rate of 30.1 percent. Black teens face an unemployment rate of 37.3 percent, a reduction from the prior month's rate of 41.1 percent.

The inequality in unemployment rates between African Americans and Hispanics is a source of political frustration for both groups. It can be difficult to form lasting political coalitions between groups that are fighting for the same resources. Many members of the African American community, for example, are disinterested in fighting against the immigration reform law in Arizona, in part because they feel that they've lost jobs to the Hispanic community. It may not help them to stay silent on this law, since the president has stated that it could lead to racial profiling all across the nation.

A better solution might be for both groups to work together to fight for stronger labor rights. American corporations have long benefited from illegal immigration and globalization. These benefits have not always transferred to the American worker; these practices have kept wages flat for a long period of time. President Obama has committed himself to dealing with comprehensive immigration reform and may also be able to forge strong black and brown coalitions by pursuing an aggressive labor rights agenda. In that scenario, all communities will benefit, even white Americans.

Lawrence Watkins is the CEO of the Great Gospel Speakers Bureau. For more information, please visit LawrenceWatkins.com.