More Black Americans Have Work

Unemployment among US black workers spiked in January after having fallen to its lowest level since the government started tracking the data.

The black unemployment rate of 7.7% last month was a jump up from the 6.8% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in December, which at the time was the lowest reported since 1972. December was the first time since then that the black unemployment rate fell below 7%, CNBC reported.

President Donald Trump touted the December number during his State of the Union address earlier this week, calling it “something I’m very proud of.” He has used that December figure several times in an apparent effort to prove his economic agenda is working for black Americans.

The president even got into a Twitter tussle with the hip-hop star Jay-Z last weekend, tweeting a response to the musician’s on-air criticism of Trump’s comments last month about immigrants from Africa.

White unemployment in January was 3.5%, which was down from 3.7% in December, and Asian unemployment was 3%, up from 2.5% in the December report.

Overall unemployment was 4.1% in the January report, released Friday. Nonfarm payrolls rose 200,000.