Black unemployment is consistently higher than unemployment of any other racial or ethnic group: Annual unemployment rate by race and ethnicity, 1979–2023
| Year | White | Black | Hispanic | Asian |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 5.1% | 12.3% | 8.3% | |
| 1980 | 6.3 | 14.3 | 10.1 | |
| 1981 | 6.7 | 15.6 | 10.4 | |
| 1982 | 8.6 | 18.9 | 13.8 | |
| 1983 | 8.4 | 19.5 | 13.7 | |
| 1984 | 6.5 | 15.9 | 10.7 | |
| 1985 | 6.2 | 15.1 | 10.5 | |
| 1986 | 6.0 | 14.5 | 10.6 | |
| 1987 | 5.3 | 13.0 | 8.8 | |
| 1988 | 4.7 | 11.7 | 8.2 | |
| 1989 | 4.5 | 11.4 | 8.0 | |
| 1990 | 4.8 | 11.4 | 8.2 | |
| 1991 | 6.1 | 12.5 | 10.0 | |
| 1992 | 6.6 | 14.2 | 11.6 | |
| 1993 | 6.1 | 13.0 | 10.8 | |
| 1994 | 5.3 | 11.5 | 9.9 | |
| 1995 | 4.9 | 10.4 | 9.3 | |
| 1996 | 4.7 | 10.5 | 8.9 | |
| 1997 | 4.2 | 10.0 | 7.7 | |
| 1998 | 3.9 | 8.9 | 7.2 | |
| 1999 | 3.7 | 8.0 | 6.4 | |
| 2000 | 3.5 | 7.6 | 5.7 | 3.6 |
| 2001 | 4.2 | 8.6 | 6.6 | 4.5 |
| 2002 | 5.1 | 10.2 | 7.5 | 5.9 |
| 2003 | 5.2 | 10.8 | 7.7 | 6.0 |
| 2004 | 4.8 | 10.4 | 7.0 | 4.4 |
| 2005 | 4.4 | 10.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 |
| 2006 | 4.0 | 8.9 | 5.2 | 3.0 |
| 2007 | 4.1 | 8.3 | 5.6 | 3.2 |
| 2008 | 5.2 | 10.1 | 7.6 | 4.0 |
| 2009 | 8.5 | 14.8 | 12.1 | 7.3 |
| 2010 | 8.7 | 16.0 | 12.5 | 7.5 |
| 2011 | 7.9 | 15.8 | 11.5 | 7.0 |
| 2012 | 7.2 | 13.8 | 10.3 | 5.9 |
| 2013 | 6.5 | 13.1 | 9.1 | 5.2 |
| 2014 | 5.3 | 11.3 | 7.4 | 5.0 |
| 2015 | 4.6 | 9.6 | 6.6 | 3.8 |
| 2016 | 4.3 | 8.4 | 5.8 | 3.6 |
| 2017 | 3.8 | 7.5 | 5.1 | 3.4 |
| 2018 | 3.5 | 6.5 | 4.7 | 3.0 |
| 2019 | 3.3 | 6.1 | 4.3 | 2.7 |
| 2020 | 7.3 | 11.4 | 10.4 | 8.7 |
| 2021 | 4.7 | 8.6 | 6.8 | 5.0 |
| 2022 | 3.2 | 6.1 | 4.3 | 2.8 |
| 2023 | 3.3 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 3.0 |
Notes: Shaded areas denote recessions. Race and ethnicity categories are not mutually exclusive; white, Black and Asian data do not exclude Hispanic workers of each race.
Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey, Annual Unemployed Rate by Race and Ethnicity data series LNU04000003, LNU04000006, LNU04000009, and LNU04032183.
Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey (Household Survey), Annual Unemployed Rate by Race and Ethnicity data series LNU04000003, LNU04000006, LNU04000009, and LNU04032183. Accessible via Series Report Data Retrieval Tool and https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ln/. Accessed February 2022.
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