Black workers are bearing the brunt of apparent strains on the U.S. labor market amid the Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce.

According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate for Black Americans jumped to 7.5 percent in August, its highest level since October 2021, Newsweek reports.

The August unemployment rate among Black Americans marked a 0.3-point increase from July and a full 1.3-point rise since January, which is far outpacing the increase among white workers, whose jobless rate rose just 0.3 points this year to 3.7 percent. The Black unemployment rate is also significantly higher than the national unemployment rate, which currently sits at 4.3 percent.

Economists cite the Trump administration’s deep cuts to the federal workforce as a key factor in increasing unemployment for Black Americans.

“Black workers were overrepresented in the federal workforce,” Gary Hoover, an economics professor at Tulane University, said in a statement. “So indiscriminate cuts have hit them harder.”

According to a Pew Research report, 18.6 percent of federal workers are Black, well above the 12.8 percent share of the overall U.S. population. Nearly 200,000 federal workers have lost their jobs under what the administration has termed “sweeping reductions to the civil service.”

Economists are warning that this year’s sharp rise in unemployment among Black workers may signal broader trouble.

“The rise in Black unemployment may show a slackening of the labor market overall,” Marlene Kim, a labor economist, said, noting that Black workers are often the first to be laid off during downturns and the last to be rehired.

In August, the U.S. added just 22,000 new jobs, far below the 75,000 expected and down from the 73,000 in July. Trump responded by firing the country’s top employment statistician, blaming faulty data.

For the first time since April 2021, the number of unemployed workers now exceeds total job openings, according to Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi, who called it “a strong tell that the job market is struggling.”

Labor market strains are also affecting college graduates and young workers, who are reporting increased difficulty in finding jobs.

“In downturns, it’s typically young people and Black Americans who suffer first with layoffs,” Heather Long, Chief Economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said.

“Black and young workers are tenuously attached to the economy,” Hoover said. “When we see faults appearing there, we can reasonably expect a broader downturn to follow.”

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