Unemployment rate for Black women fell in June, but so did their participation in the labor force

The U.S. unemployment rate fell for Black women last month even as the overall metric held steady across the board, but labor force participation also slipped for the group.

Headline unemployment hovered at 3.6% in June as the economy gained 372,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. That’s down slightly from 384,000 additions in May, although the gains topped Dow Jones’ estimate from economists of 250,000.

The unemployment rate for Black women fell to 5.6% in June, down from 5.9% in the previous month. However, the labor force participation rate, which tracks…