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<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n August, which is heralded as Black Business Month, should have been a time to celebrate the Black labor force. But last month\u2019s jobs report showed unemployment rates increased for Black workers \u2014 and it could point to an economic slump.\n <\/p>\n \n The unemployment rate for Black workers reached 7.5% in August<\/a> \u2014 its highest level since October 2021 (7.6%) \u2014 and followed consecutive increases in June (6.8%) and July (7.2%). A rise in Black unemployment is often considered the \u201ccanary in the coal mine<\/a>,\u201d foretelling a slowdown for the broader job market. <\/strong>\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe most vulnerable people tend to get laid off first, and unfortunately, that tends to be Black Americans, and that\u2019s something that is very disturbing in and of itself,\u201d said Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting firm KPMG US.\n <\/p>\n \n Black Americans make up about 13% of the US workforce. A drop in Black Americans in the workforce can have a crippling effect on Black communities and on the US economy, which some economists say is already in a slowdown.\n <\/p>\n \n Black Americans are expected to have buying power of $2 trillion by 2026, up from $1.7 trillion in 2024, according to a report<\/a> from Nielsen.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhen unemployment rises in our communities, it has a rippling effect across entire industries. Not just retail. Housing, health care \u2014 the impacts are across the board,\u201d said Joyaa Cole, founder of Joe and Monroe, a Black-owned candle business in Houston.\n <\/p>\n \n Cole said that higher rates of Black unemployment would be \u201cdevastating,\u201d and it is twice as impactful on small, Black-owned businesses like her own, because Black customers may dial back on discretionary spending.\n <\/p>\n \n Black Americans are slower to recover from job losses, which means it can be a long road to recovery. <\/strong>During the pandemic, President Donald Trump touted a jobs recovery in May 2020. But while White unemployment had fallen from 14.2% to 12.4%, Black unemployment held steady at 16.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The rise in unemployment for Black Americans contrasts Trump\u2019s claims that Black workers would fare better under his leadership than under Democrats. In 2016, he famously asked Black voters, \u201cWhat the hell do you have to lose?<\/a>\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The jobs slowdown is due in part to Trump\u2019s economic policies<\/a>, which include cuts to the federal workforce<\/a> \u2014 of which Black workers make up about 18.7% \u2014 sweeping tariffs<\/a> and diversity, equity and inclusion crackdowns<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Unemployment for Black Americans has led some Black-owned small-business owners to worry about an end-of-year sales slump.\n <\/p>\n \n In Atlanta, Charmaine Gibbs-West, the owner of beauty brand Essence Tree, said she will have to let go of one contracted worker and won\u2019t know whether she can bring back the contractor until the fourth quarter, which is usually the busiest time for her company.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cA lot of my customers like to support Black businesses when they can, so to me the unemployment rate indicates that I may have to buckle up a little bit for my business sales,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n
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