By The Joint Center
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
The Joint Center analyzed employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and highlighted how these numbers affect Black workers. Our August Jobs Day analysis is below and click here to view the remaining charts.
- From July to August, the unemployment rate for Black workers increased from 7.2 percent to 7.5 percent, the highest rate since October 2021 (7.6 percent).
- The number of Black workers employed increased by 260,000.
- From July to August, the unemployment rate for young Black workers increased from 14.3 percent to 16.8 percent, and the overall unemployment rate for all young workers decreased from 10.8 percent to 10.7 percent.
- The unemployment rate for Black women increased to 7.5 percent, the highest rate in five years (since August 2021 (eight percent) and for Black men the rate decreased from 7.7 percent to 7.6 percent.
- At 7.5 percent, the Black unemployment rate was three points higher than the overall unemployment rate of all workers in August (4.3 percent) and higher than the unemployment rate for each individual racial group: White (3.7 percent), Hispanic (5.3 percent), and Asian (3.6 percent).
*Disclosure: Since the unjust firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfe, former Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we are closely monitoring monthly employment and jobs data.
President Dedrick Asante-Muhammad interviewed with Scripps News to discuss the recent unemployment numbers and understand why Black Americans are disproportionately impacted, noting that:
- Cuts to sectors including “manufacturing [and] some aspects of hospitality” could be a major reason why Black unemployment rates are higher than the rest of the labor force.
Senior Policy Analyst Dr. Gabrielle Smith Finnie also discussed the alarmingly high Black unemployment rate with NBC BLK and Slate Magazine, saying that:
- The unemployment rate is “a loss of the wealth of knowledge, of innovation, of skills that Black women contribute everyday.”
- For entry-level workers, the adoption of “AI also makes it harder for Black workers to enter and re-enter the workforce.”
Joint Center Senior Fellow Jessica Fulton appeared on CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield and noted that:
- Black unemployment has been consistently shooting up for the past several months.
- Black workers serve as a “canary in the coal mines” for the rest of the labor market.
- The economy lost jobs, the first time this has happened since the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2025, further noting that a potential reason for the high unemployment rate for Black workers is due to the fact that Black workers are the first to be let go at the start of an economic downturn.
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