President Donald Trump has continued to celebrate strong overall job growth while downplaying persistently high Black unemployment. Black unemployment has remained significantly higher than the national average. Erica L. Green of The New York Times examined the widening employment gap, Trump’s recent public remarks, and reactions from civil rights leaders and economists.
According to the report, the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Black unemployment stood at 6.6% in June, unchanged from May and well above the overall U.S. unemployment rate of 4.2%. White unemployment was reported at 3.6%, highlighting the continuing disparity in employment outcomes across racial groups.
Trump addressed the issue during a June 4 Oval Office event. theGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynor asked President Donald Trump about the rise in Black unemployment since he took office and the persistent racial disparity.
“We’re doing very well with the Black jobs, African-American jobs,” the president told theGrio inside the Oval Office. “We saw some numbers that we’re doing really well.” Rather than directly discussing the figures, the president pointed to his efforts to bring manufacturing back to the United States. “It’s all coming back. It’s amazing,” Trump said. “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.”
The following day, during remarks to farmers in Wisconsin, Trump celebrated the latest jobs report and incorrectly claimed that Black unemployment was at its lowest level in history. “I’ll tell you, this is something that’s amazing: African American unemployment is now doing better than it’s ever done,” Trump said before adding, “I don’t know where that stat came from, but I’ll take it.”
As The New York Times noted, Black unemployment reached a record low of 5.3% during Trump’s first term. It fell even further to 4.8% in 2023 under former President Joe Biden, making it the lowest level recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since Trump returned to office in January 2025, Black unemployment has remained above 6%, peaking at 8% last fall before easing to its current level.
Green also reported that Trump’s broader policy agenda, including reductions to the federal workforce and the rollback of several civil rights-era initiatives, has drawn criticism from advocates who argue those moves have disproportionately affected Black workers. NAACP President Derrick Johnson criticized Trump’s remarks linking future job growth to factory employment. “It is both racist and demeaning to suggest the only jobs that Blacks will be available for will be blue-collar jobs and factories,” Johnson told The New York Times.
Economists interviewed said the employment gap deserves greater attention. Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said a national unemployment rate as high as the current Black unemployment rate would likely dominate economic discussions. “If the national unemployment rate was this high, people would be talking recession,” he said. “But for Black America that’s normalized, which is problematic.”
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump frequently cited Black unemployment while arguing that illegal immigration was costing Black Americans jobs. Since returning to office, however, his public comments have focused largely on overall job creation and broader economic indicators rather than the continuing racial employment gap.
