Black unemployment surges to 7.2%

Overall US unemployment remains low at 4.2%, but for Black workers, the jobless rate has jumped to 7.2%—the highest since 2021.

The rise spans both college-educated and non-college Black workers and is mainly driven by layoffs in low-wage roles, federal job cuts, and hiring discrimination.

With the Trump administration planning to cut 300,000 federal jobs by year-end, the pressure could intensify.

If the joblessness continues, it would erase the pandemic-era gains that once narrowed the racial employment gap in the US.

Just last year, Black unemployment hit a record low of 4.8%, the lowest level since the Labor Department began tracking in 1972.