June 6, 2023
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - President Joe Biden and members of Congress signed a bill into law last week that lifted the ceiling in the federal debt that will keep the government running.
The debt ceiling deal with the Republicans in Congress was seen as a major victory for the President that came the same week the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Employers posted 339,000 new jobs for May.
But, while unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 percent across the US, the unemployment rate for African-Americans rose to a new high of 5.6 percent in May.
One of the reasons why the Urban League and African American economist aren't sounding big alarms is because the unemployment rate for people of color looks like a heart monitor at times.
In April, the unemployment rate for Black Americans fell below 5 percent for the first time ever. Four years ago, May of 2020, the rate peaked at 16.8 percent.
"The decline in the unemployment rate among Blacks in April was short-lived. As the overall unemployment rose, we see, yet again, the black population become disproportionately impacted,” said LaTanya Brown-Robertson, Professor of Economics at Howard University.
“As many labor economists have pointed out in the past, this increase in the black unemployment rate is based upon structural factors that have continuously plagued the black community, which are connected to lower levels of education and systemic racism,” Brown-Robertson added.
But President Biden remains optimistic.
“The American people got what they needed… We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse,” said Biden during his address from the Oval Office last week.
The bill passed the Senate by a 63-36 margin Thursday evening, winning enough support to avoid a filibuster. On Wednesday, the bill passed the House , 314-117.
Dr. Bernard Anderson, Senior Economic Adviser for the National Urban League said last week, “The Black-white employment disparity remained close to the persistent 2-1 ratio, with the Black unemployment rate at 6.2 percent and the white rate at 3.2 percent.
In a report, released by the National Urban League on June 2nd, Anderson said “In order to reduce racial disparities in employment and income, it’s necessary to increase funding for post-secondary education and workforce development that will help unlock job opportunities for Black and Latino workers in higher skilled, higher paid, less cyclical occupations.”