Employment in the U.S. has been capricious of late, but the economic assault dealt by The Great Recession only helped to stagger job opportunities and heighten unemployment rates, particularly for non-whites. That said, new job numbers show that last month saw a decrease in Latino unemployment.

The lower-than-average employment month of August actually peaked compared to the month prior, showing better outcomes for Latino workers, despite the ever-present disparities affecting the community.

Non-white millennials perpetually experience higher unemployment rates than their white counterparts. The "Monthly Latino Employment Report" issued by the National Council of La Raza examined those disparities and engaged Latino millennials in order to better understand perspectives on the shifting economy.

Latino unemployment rates dropped from 7.8 percent to 7.5 percent, likely due to high Latino participation in fields such as administrative and waste services (+23,000), food services and restaurants (+22,000 workers) and construction (+20,000 workers).

As of August 2014, 23.5 million Latinos in the U.S. were described as being employed; that includes individuals over the age of 16 and those temporarily absent from their jobs. The number of Latinos described as unemployed currently stands at 1.9 million, which includes those who are available to work, make an effort to find employment, or expected to be called back after being laid off but are not working.

According to the study, only 66 percent of the Latino community currently participates in the workforce, and that has a lot to do with millennials of color having trouble finding employment.

Latino millennials tend to face high levels of underemployment, which NCLR addressed in the recent report "Giving Them an Edge? The Effects of Work Experience on the Employment Prospects of Latino Young Men." That report offers an overview of barriers, and investigates how much extra work experience was needed in order to give Latino millennials a competitive edge in today's labor market. It also explored the labor market outcome for the youngest and fastest-growing segment in the America, Latino millennials.

When educational attainment and age is taken into account, unemployment rates among those ages 17-20 with a high school degree is 41.9 percent for Latinos, compared to 56.6 percent for blacks and 36.8 percent for whites. For those aged 21-24 with a bachelor's degree, unemployment rates are 16.3 percent for Latinos, 25.5 percent for blacks and 15.8 percent for whites, showing that Latinos with college degrees fare worse than whites, though far better than blacks.

There are a number of reasons why millennials of color face challenges when entering the job market, including discrimination. Despite assumptions, the digital age has not encouraged colorblind hiring; instead employers have opted to consciously or subconsciously discriminate against names that sound distinctly black or Latino. In fact, it's been documented that applicants with white-sounding names receive 50 percent more callbacks than those with ethnic-sounding name.

José Zamora, for instance, logged onto his computer each morning, combed through listings, and applied to each job that he was qualified for, sending between 50 and 100 resumes a day. He received no responses. When he decided to drop the "s" from his name, becoming "Joe" instead of "José," within one week his inbox was filled with responses.

"I had to drop a letter to get a title," Zamora said, later adding, "Sometimes I don't even think people know or are conscious or aware that they're judging -- even if it's by name -- but I think we all do it all the time."

Despite the very real discrimination that exists, Latino millennials remain remarkably optimistic. Approximately 65 percent of respondents ages 18-39 believe that the economy will get better within the next five years, and less than half of respondents indicated that they were worried about someone in their household losing his or her jobs. Also, NCLR polled 250 Latinos ages 16-30, and 60 percent indicated that they would rather earn $40,000 a year working at a job they love than make $100,000 working at a job that is boring.

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