Business
Black Women See Job Prospects Improve
By Freddie Allen
Senior Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Job prospects for Black women improved in June, as they recorded better employment numbers than the other major adult groups, the latest jobs report by the Labor Department shows.
The jobless rate for Black women over 20 years old fell nearly a full percentage point last month, from 8.8 percent in May to 7.9 percent in June. The unemployment rate for White women declined just one-tenth of a percentage, from 4.3 percent in May to 4.2 percent last month.
The unemployment rate for Black men over 20 years old also improved, but not as quickly as for Black women – falling from 10.2 percent in May to 9.7 percent in June. It was still more than double the 4.2 percent unemployment rate for White men, which hasn’t changed since May.
As the number of Black women entering the labor market increased last month, the share of adult Black women that have jobs compared to the total population of Black women, known as the employment-population ratio (E-POP), also increased.
The E-POP for Black women climbed from 56.5 percent to 57.1 percent in June, compared to the E-POP for White women, which receded from 55.1 percent to 55 percent in June. The E-POP for Black men decreased from 61.5 percent in May to 61.2 percent in June and the ratio of workers in the White male population didn’t budge in June and was the same as it was in May at 69.1 percent.
William Spriggs, an economics professor at Howard University and the chief economist at the AFL-CIO, a national labor group, took to Twitter to note that the jobless rate for Black women fell “for right reasons,” due in part to the growth in the employment-population ratio.
In a later tweet, Spriggs wrote: “Despite waves of state and local minimum wage hikes, employment in food services continued to trend up +30k in June, +355k over the year.”
For years, groups that advocate for small businesses have expressed fear that increasing the minimum wage would lead to higher prices for consumers and less job opportunities for those who often need them the most: young people, poor people and people of color. With each company, city and jurisdiction that announces immediate or future plans to raise the minimum wage, those fears begin to fade away.
The national unemployment rate edged down from 5.5 percent in May to 5.2 percent June, but the E-POP also dipped from 59.4 percent to 59.3 percent. The economy added 223,000 jobs last month, but the jobs numbers for April and May were revised down, shedding 60,000 jobs.
Still reeling from the broad sequestration cuts that went into effect in 2013, the public sector, where Blacks tend to find jobs at higher rates than in the private sector, didn’t add a single job in June and has only added 8,000 jobs this year, Elise Gould, the senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank focused on low- and middle-income families, wrote in a blog post at EPI.org.
In a separate blog post, Gould wrote that wages have only grown 2 percent since last June, another clear indicator of the uneven recovery.
“Employers don’t have to offer big wage increases to get and keep the workers they need,” Gould explained. “And this remains true even as a jobs recovery has consistently forged ahead in recent years.”
Gould cautioned the Federal Reserve against raising interest rates in an effort to prevent inflation.
In a brief statement about June’s employment situation, Gould wrote, “In light of this jobs report, it is more than obvious that the Federal Reserve needs to stay the course – if they act too soon, they will take the remaining wind out of the economy’s sails.”
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Oakland Post: Week of March 4 – 10, 2026
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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026
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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs
Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.
By Carla Thomas
The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.
The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.
At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.
“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”
According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.
“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”
This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.
Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.
Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.
“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”
The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.
“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”
Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”
For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.
“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.
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