, Columnist
Black Unemployment Is at an All-Time Low, But ...
The employment-population ratio among black Americans (and other groups) still isn’t setting any records.
Lower doesn't mean perfect.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images
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The unemployment rate among black Americans fell to 6.6 percent in April, according to today’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the lowest such rate on record.
The record in this case only goes back to 1972, and the overall unemployment rate (available back to 1948) was lower in the late 1960s and early 1950s than it is now. But the gap between the black unemployment rate and the overall rate has been shrinking, so 6.6 percent may well be the lowest rate ever for black people.