Black Unemployment Rose Sharply in September, Jobs Report Shows

“I always try to avoid having big takeaways from one month of data,” said Gbenga Ajilore, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and a former senior adviser at the Department of Agriculture. “I’m not so worried about it as of yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye out next month.”

Black workers have historically been among the first to lose their jobs in recessions and the last to get hired in recoveries. William E. Spriggs, a Howard University economist who died in 2023, would often argued that Black workers are “canaries in the coal mine” — when their unemployment rate rise, it can be an early sign of deterioration in the broader labor market.

President Trump, in his first term, frequently touted the low rate of Black unemployment and has argued in his second term that his strict immigration policies will benefit Black Americans, accusing immigrants of stealing “Black jobs.” Economists, however, say there is little evidence to support that claim, and note that Mr. Trump’s other policies, particularly the government job cuts early in his second term, disproportionately hurt Black workers, especially women.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/business/economy/jobs-report-black-unemployment.html