Black US Unemployment Hits Record Low But Participation Falls
- Black men depart labor force at fastest pace in three years
- Black women, who have had slower recovery, saw strong gains
Photographer: Tim Robberts/Digital Vision/Getty Images
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Black unemployment dropped to a record low in April but the decline was driven by some troubling trends suggesting Black workers are starting to struggle in an otherwise resilient US labor market.
The unemployment rate for Black workers retreated to 4.7% last month, falling below 5% for the first time ever, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed Friday. The improvement came in a month where nonfarm payrolls increased by a greater-than-expected 253,000 and the overall unemployment rate fell back to a multi-decade low of 3.4%.