Black unemployment slightly dips as Trump vows to bring back ‘Black jobs.’ But the numbers aren’t what they seem
“If the President wants to improve the Black jobless rate, he needs to stop firing federal workers,” Gbenga Ajilore, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told theGrio
After President Donald Trump recently told theGrio his policies are bringing back “Black jobs,” the new jobs report for May shows that while the Black unemployment rate has slightly declined, it remains disproportionately high compared to the national rate and rates of other racial or ethnic groups.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in May, the Black unemployment rate modestly dipped to 6.6% after reaching 7.3% a month prior. That is higher than the national unemployment rate (4.3%), the white unemployment rate (3.8%), the Asian unemployment rate (3.8%), and the Hispanic unemployment rate (5.0%).
The slight decline in the jobless rate for Black Americans comes after President Trump told theGrio a day before the job numbers were to be released that, “We saw some numbers that we’re doing really well.”
“We’re doing very well with the Black jobs, African-American jobs,” the president said inside the Oval Office, where he announced a $700 million federal investment in coal plants.
Despite the appearance of a positive shift in the job market for Black workers, Gbenga Ajilore, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told theGrio that the drop in Black unemployment was “driven by a drop in labor force participation more than a gain in employment.” In other words, more Black workers aren’t being hired; they’re simply opting out of the job search.
As theGrio previously reported, Black Americans have acutely suffered in Trump’s economy as a result of the confluence of his policies, most notably attacks on DEI and the slashing of the federal workforce.
“If the President wants to improve the Black jobless rate, he needs to stop firing federal workers,” Ajilore told theGrio, adding, “The federal government has been the best place for Black workers for over 80 years.”
Many Black Americans have been able to thrive in the middle class as a result of high federal employment, particularly in non-political civil service jobs. However, the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal government in the name of so-called “waste and fraud” have specifically targeted these once-protected and coveted positions.
“Going to Schedule F is definitely not going to help either,” said Ajilore, referring to an executive order Trump signed on Tuesday that strips protections for 8,000 federal workers, making them “at-will” employees, making it easier for the government to fire them without cause.
When asked about the racial disparity in unemployment numbers, the president told theGrio that government and private sector investments in coal plants and the auto industries will bring more jobs to Black communities.
“What we’re really going to do well is when all these plants are open, you know. We’re building many car plants. We’re bringing cars back from Germany. We’re bringing, you know, we lost the car industry years ago. 54% of the industry went to Germany, Japan, Canada, Mexico,” said Trump.
“It’s all coming back. It’s amazing,” the president continued. “And where your Black worker is really going to do well is when those factories open. So, I think they’re going to be great. We’ve, we’ve been doing well. It’s been a big focus for me.”
Despite the president’s pronouncements, the coal industry has been in decline since 2008. It remains to be seen if Trump’s new actions will make any meaningful difference. Utility companies have also been using coal to produce energy for data centers, which have faced criticisms for polluting Black communities, among other environmental harms.
As for the auto industry, while job creation has grown, manufacturing jobs have steadily declined due to Trump’s global tariffs and the war in Iran, which are driving up costs and disrupting supply chains. What’s worse, as many as 100,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Trump’s economy.
“There is a level of disgust Black Americans have with the prioritization of this presidency, especially when it comes to more endless wars,” said Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross. “Black Americans are seeing a consistent lack of resources in their communities, and are told that we just don’t have the money.”
She added, “Meanwhile, we’re spending billions of dollars a day in a war of choice from this president.”