The historic employment gains notched by Black Americans during the pandemic-era recovery may be beginning to reverse — one of the disappointing details of the June jobs report out Friday.
The hot labor market sharply narrowed employment gaps, helping lower-income and other marginalized workers reap benefits other groups felt much sooner. But those workers are also historically the first casualty of softer job conditions.
In April, the Black unemployment rate was 4.7% — the lowest level on record. It has jumped a staggering 1.3 percentage points in the span of just two months.
This economic recovery remains extraordinary for Black workers, by any historical standard. The jobless rate was in double digits for six years following the Great Financial Crisis.
- By contrast, it took less than a year for the unemployment rate to fall back to single digits after the pandemic.