Unemployment among Black workers is at a record low, as the labor market keeps going strong.
May 6, 2023
Black unemployment hit a record low for the second consecutive month in April, as the labor market stayed red hot and defied all those recession predictions.
Last month, just 4.7% of Black workers in the US didn’t have a job and were looking for one, according to data the Bureau of Labor Statistics released yesterday. Black unemployment has been on a steady downward trajectory since peaking at 16.8% during the early months of the pandemic in 2020.
But the latest figure also reflects the fact that the Black labor force shrank last month, as some workers dropped out of it and therefore weren’t included in the calculation.
Those who remained in the workforce, though, benefited from an economy that just refuses to quit. The US added 253,000 jobs in April (more than expected), despite persistent interest rate hikes and the recent bank meltdowns.
- The overall unemployment rate dipped slightly to 3.4%, putting it on par with January’s, which was the lowest since 1969.
- Wages were up 4.4% compared with a year earlier, exceeding analyst estimates.
Yeah, but…this latest labor market thermometer reading could tempt the Fed to keep cranking up the AC (or at least hold off on dialing it down): Jerome Powell & Co. want the labor market to chill out a bit to help curb inflation.—SK
