January 05, 2018
The continued strong pace of job growth pushed down the unemployment rate for African Americans to 6.8 percent, the lowest figure since these data began being collected in 1972. By comparison, the African American rate bottomed out at 7.0 percent in April of 2000.
This is yet another example of how a low unemployment rate disproportionately benefits the most disadvantaged segments of society. The overall unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the lowest rate since 2000.