The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday Jan. 5, 2024, that the economy added 216,000 jobs in December.
This was slightly lower than the 2023 average of 225,000 per month but much higher than the predicted increase of 158,000.
Dedrick Asante-Muhammad and Joseph Dean state in a National Community Investment Coalition (NCRC) analysis, “The labor market continues to show strengths not seen in decades, with unemployment rates below the 4% threshold defined as “full employment” for the past two years,”
“This strong labor market has shrunk the historic racial disparities in topline jobless rates. The African American unemployment rate is now roughly 1.5 times that of Whites, down from a long-term trend of roughly doubling the White unemployment rate.”
Unemployment stayed unchanged at 3.7% in December and a 0.6% reduction in the Black unemployment rate was the largest monthly drop in 2023.
Muhammad, NCRC’s Chief of Policy, Research and Equity, and Dean, racial economic junior research specialist, attribute the steep drop “is entirely attributed to Black men whose rate declined from 6.3% to 4.6%.”
“It is also tied with last April’s 4.6% as the lowest rate on record. This massive drop is due to the large numbers of Black men going from unemployed to employed – two statistical statuses tied only to those who are actively seeking work.
The employment-to-population for Black men jumped from 64.9% to 66% in December.
The December BLS report has the unemployment rate at 3.5% for White workers, 5.2% for Black workers, 3.1% for Asian workers and 5.0% for Hispanic workers.
Median weekly wages for Black workers increased in the third quarter of 2023 (July-September) by $37, or 4.2%. The median Black worker is now paid $918 per week. White workers’ wages rose by $36 per week, a 3.3% increase to $1,137.
The NCRC analysts say the job report “provided some pleasant news, including the smashing of jobs growth expectations and strong growth in several key sectors.’
“The policy challenge for 2024 is to both maintain and improve these numbers so that the African American community for the first time can be at the 4% full employment threshold and end the employment disparity with White Americans.”
President Biden said in a release, “[the] report confirms that 2023 was a great year for American workers. I won’t stop fighting for American workers and American families.”
“The strong job creation continued even as inflation fell to the pre-pandemic level of 2% over the last six months, and key prices have fallen over the last year—for a gallon of gas, a gallon of milk, toys, appliances, car rentals, and airline fares. American workers’ wages and wealth are higher now than before the pandemic began, adjusting for inflation.”
Biden said he realizes “some prices are still too high for too many Americans, and I am doing everything in my power to lower everyday costs for hard-working Americans.”
“And I will continue opposing efforts by Congressional Republicans to shower massive giveaways on the wealthy and big corporations, cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and block us from lowering costs for American families.”
