Bay Area

Higher Black Unemployment in California Distorts Rosy Picture of Job Recovery

A sharp drop in the national unemployment rate for all Americans — down to 3.6% in February — brings the number of people without jobs across the United States to just one tenth of a point above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5% (February 2020), according to data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor

Published

4 years ago

April 19, 2022

Oakland Post

Cecilia Rouse is chair of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers. Commons Wikipedia.org photo.

By Aldon Thomas Stiles, California Black Media

Officials in Sacramento and Washington frequently point to the low unemployment rate in the state and around the country as proof that the U.S. economy has recovered from the downturn experienced during the global COVID-19 crisis.

But the total unemployment rate for Black Californians seems stuck at almost three times higher than the national rate — despite steady increases in overall hiring of African Americans in the state.

In February alone, the U.S. economy added a remarkable 431,000 jobs, bringing the number of jobs created since 2021 to 7.9 million.

Cecilia Rouse, chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, told California Black Media that the nation’s Black unemployment rate has drastically decreased since the pandemic related recession.

“At the height of this pandemic, the unemployment rate for Black people was 16.8% and from what we saw this month, it is down to 6.2%,” she said.

Overall, unemployment in California is also down from a pinnacle in 2020 during the peak of the pandemic. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined 10.5 percentage points from April 2020 to February 2022, from 15.9% to 5.4%.

According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), the state’s economy has added 2,405,900 non-farm jobs, “in effect, recovering 87.2% of the non-farm jobs it lost during the COVID-19 recession.”

Although Black unemployment in California has seen a decrease during the recovery period as well, it has not dropped to pre-pandemic levels, according to state officials.

Black unemployment was hovering at around 10% for the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. At that time, California’s overall unemployment rate was 7.5%, about two points higher than it was for February.

Although the unemployment rate for Black Californians is higher than the state rate, it continues to move downward.

From April 2020 to February 2022, California increased its number of Black workers by 59,000, going from 1,009,000 in April 2020 to 1,068,000 in February 2022.

Before the COVID-19 recession from February 2020 to April 2020, there were 1,133,000 employed Black workers in California, according to the EDD.

Over the course of the COVID-19 recession, the state lost 2,758,900 non-farm jobs and the unemployment rate rose from 4.1% in February 2020 to 15.9% only two months later. Over this time period, the unemployment rate for California’s Black workers rose 8.2 percentage points.

Across the country, the unemployment rate for African Americans is also decreasing, dropping from 9.5% in March 2021 to 6.2% in March 2022, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

“What we’ve seen is tremendous improvement in the labor market status for Black Americans, Black workers,” Rouse says, attributing the improving numbers to the American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration’s pandemic recovery initiative.

“It provided the resources to help us get through this pandemic,” said Rouse. “The management of the pandemic is fundamental and so integral to this strong labor market recovery that we’re seeing.”

Since 2021, growth in employment for Black Californians has been significant in three industries: Transportation and utilities, services, and the leisure and hospitality industries.

According to the EDD, there has been an increase of over 50,000 Black employed workers in the transportation and utilities industry, over 14,100 in other services, and over 13,700 in the leisure and hospitality industry.

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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

Published

1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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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.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

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.

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.