In boasting of job creation, Vice President Kamala Harris told an organization of Black journalists, “We have the lowest Black unemployment rate in generations.” The rate did dip to its lowest point last year, but as of last month it was the same as the pre-pandemic rate under the Trump administration.
Harris, who would become the first Black and Asian American woman president if elected in November, met in Philadelphia on Sept. 17 with members of the National Association of Black Journalists. There was little fodder for fact-checkers, but she did repeat some talking points about jobs that require more context.
“As of today,” Harris said, “we have created over 16 million new jobs, over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs. We have the lowest Black unemployment rate in generations.”
The Black unemployment rate, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been tracking since 1972, dropped in April 2023 to 4.8% — the lowest point on record. But the most recent data show that the Black unemployment rate, as of August, was 6.1% — exactly where it was in February 2020, when former President Donald Trump was in power.
The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic drove up unemployment rates for all Americans. At its worst during the pandemic, the Black unemployment rate reached a high of 16.9% in April 2020. When Trump left office, the rate improved, but still remained high at 9.3%.
Prior to the pandemic, Black unemployment had reached a low of 5.3% under Trump in August and September 2019. That was a record until last year.
Despite the immediate and lingering effects of the pandemic, the average monthly unemployment rates during the Trump (7.9%) and Biden (6.5%) administrations were below the historical average of 11.4%, dating to January 1972.
Harris’ claim about 16 million total jobs and 800,000 manufacturing jobs is close to accurate for the moment — but likely to soon change.
As it stands now, the U.S. economy added nearly 15.9 million total jobs, including 739,000 manufacturing jobs.
But, as we have written, the BLS last month announced a preliminary estimate of its annual revision of jobs data that showed the number of jobs created over the 12 months ending in March was likely 818,000 lower, including 115,000 fewer manufacturing jobs. The final revision will be announced in February along with the January employment report.
If there were 818,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported, then the current total under the Biden administration would be about 15 million total jobs (not over 16 million) and manufacturing jobs would be closer to 600,000 (not more than 800,000).
Harris also repeated her false claim that the Biden administration “came in during the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.” When she made a similar claim during the Sept. 10 debate, we wrote that the unemployment rate was 6.4% when Trump left office in January 2021. That was lower than it was during several administrations since the 1930s.
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