Black Unemployment is Surging Under Donald Trump

9.11.25
Amid a broad slackening of the U.S. labor market, and in spite of campaign promises to save "Black jobs," the unemployment rate for Black workers is surging under President Donald Trump. According to seasonally adjusted data published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate for Black Americans rose from 7.2 percent in July to 7.5 percent in August, now at its highest level since October 2021. This compares to 4.3 percent for the wider labor force and is more than double the rate for white Americans (3.7 percent). White unemployment has risen by 0.3 percent since January but during that time Black unemployment has climbed 1.3 percent, with the bulk of this occurring over the past three months. However, as well as the outsized impact of DOGE cuts, the rise in Black unemployment may also reflect more general and demographic-wide difficulties for U.S. workers. "The rise in Black unemployment may show a slackenAnd the labor market is showing other unmistakable signals of stress. The number of unemployed workers is now greater than the total number of job openings for the first time since April 2021. Moody's Chief Economist Mark Zandi described this to Newsweek as "a strong tell that the job market is struggling and during periods of uncertainty, Black workers are typically "less likely to be hired and often the first let go." Any weaknesses in the respective labor conditions of Black Americans "typically migrate through the entire economy and should be used as a signal of an economic downturn which will follow." "Black and young workers are tenuously attached to the economy and when we see faults appearing there, we can reasonably expect there to be broader downturns," he added. With Tuesday's revisions to nonfarm payrolls data painting an even bleaker picture of the labor market than previously thought, and with Trump officials promising to press ahead with more cuts to the federal workforce, the outlook for Black workers remains unfavorable and a recession—should one occur—especially troubling.

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dmpi said:

Is goverment DEI hiring the only way a black women can get a job? DOGE canned 300,000 jobs and guess what? The goverment didn't fall apart. What did these people actually do? A 'job' is one thing, but we need sustainable jobs that actually produce goods and services that people actually want and need and are willing to pay money for. Normally that means the private sector. I should also add that if DEI was such a great thing (for profitability) then the private sector would have instituted it as a standard business practice. Bottom line is layoff normally is a bad sign for them economy because it indicates that revenue is (or will be shrinking) and less workers are needed. However in this case Biden and his infinite wisdom over hired and encouraged the private sector to do the same. We're unwinding this now, and guess what? Stock market is at its all time high! I don't see the economy hurting.

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