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- Trump posted a meme claiming “record Black employment” on Truth Social, contrasting with rising Black unemployment during his second term.
- Actual lowest Black unemployment occurred under Joe Biden at 4.8%, not during Trump’s presidency.
- Black unemployment rose to 7.5% in Trump’s second term, prompting concern from economists and advocates.
- Experts warn tariff and anti-DEI policies plus federal workforce cuts disproportionately harm Black workers.
- Black workers are overrepresented in the federal workforce (18.5%), risking greater impact from potential federal layoffs amid a shutdown.
President Donald Trump appeared to take credit for “record” Black employment in a Truth Social post amid rising Black unemployment during his second term.
On Thursday night, Trump posted a meme aiming at former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and their record for Black Americans. For Clinton, the image reads “record Black imprisonment,” likely referring to his infamous 1994 crime bill, and for Obama, “record Black welfare.”
But for Trump himself, the meme reads, “record Black employment.”
During Trump’s first term as president, Black unemployment reached its lowest level at that time at 5.3% in 2019, though it eventually spiked to 16.9% in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the record low Black unemployment rate actually goes to former President Joe Biden. During Biden’s term, the Black unemployment rate dropped to an all-time low of 4.8%.
During his second term, the Black unemployment rate has steadily increased. By the end of Trump’s first month in office this year, the Black unemployment rate was 6%. It has since spiked to 7.5%, causing alarm for economists and advocates, who, citing Trump’s tariff and anti-DEI policies and cuts to the federal workforce, warn that job loss for Black Americans could signal broader economic trouble down the line.
“You can see how a tariff policy that’s on again, off again creates uncertainty for businesses, slows hiring, and will inevitably have a disproportionately negative effect on Black workers,” Angela Hanks, chief of policy programs of The Century Foundation and a former Department of Labor official under the Biden administration, previously told theGrio.
“Black workers are often last hired, first fired, and so when you see Black unemployment rising, it’s both concerning for Black workers, but it also tends to suggest something deeper is going on in the economy,” Hanks explained.
Amid the current federal government shutdown, the Black unemployment rate could take a bigger hit, as the White House has indicated that it could use it as an opportunity to fire thousands more federal workers.
While Black Americans make up 13% of the total U.S. population, they represented a disproportionate share of the federal workforce at 18.5% at the end of 2024. An August report from the Center for American Progress warned that Trump’s MAGA agenda is a threat to the Black middle class.
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