Black unemployment is surging again. This time is different. – phillytrib.com

AmeriCorps volunteer John Harris III fills out documents for applicants at a job fair in Washington, D.C. —AP PHOTO/MANUEL BALCE CENETA
Maurice Mike, 23, waits in line at a job fair in Miami. The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. —AP FILE PHOTO
NEW YORK — Joblessness for Black workers is rising again, two years after reaching a record low. It’s a troubling indicator: Joblessness often spikes higher for historically marginalized groups during economic downturns, and takes longer to fall.
This time, the Trump administration’s assault on diversity programs and cuts to the federal workforce could make it even more difficult for Black workers to recover when conditions improve.
The African American unemployment rate has surged over the past four months, from 6% to 7.5%, while the rate for white people ticked down slightly to 3.7%. On top of a slowing economy, the White House’s actions have disproportionately harmed Black workers, economists said.
At least since the 1970s, when the federal government started tracking unemployment by race, the rate for Black people has run about twice the rate for white people. Because of inferior educational opportunities, the legacy of mass incarceration and discrimination over generations, Black people confront greater challenges in the job market.
A strong economy during President Donald Trump’s first term created more jobs for Black workers, but many of them were lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. Generous public subsidies, though, cushioned the blow, and hiring rebounded quickly.
In 2023, Black unemployment reached a low of 4.8%. Wages rose at their fastest pace since data collection began in the 1990s, and median Black household wealth reached the highest level on record.
Conditions started to deteriorate in 2024 after pandemic-era subsidies expired. Black households were the only racial group last year in which median income fell and the poverty rate rose, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Job losses are concentrated among Black women working in professional services such as human resources, according to an analysis of federal data by Valerie Wilson, who directs the program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. A hiring freeze and mass layoffs in the federal workforce have also fallen disproportionately on Black workers.
Lower interest rates could offer some relief. Federal Reserve officials lowered rates in September for the first time this year and suggested that more cuts were likely.
But Trump administration actions beyond workforce cuts and anti-DEI policies could create additional hurdles for Black workers. The Department of Labor’s proposed rollback of minimum-wage and overtime protections for domestic workers, for example, would hurt their incomes.
The New York Times
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