Black Unemployment Hits Another 2025 High in November

Federal employment data through November 2025 show that Black Americans continue to face much higher jobless rates than White Americans — and in some groups the difference has grown.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

• Black men’s unemployment rate rose from about 7.5% in August to 8.4% in November.
• White men’s rate stayed around 3.9% in November.
  That means Black men were more than twice as likely to be unemployed as White men.
  Source: BLS unemployment rates by race and sex (table A-4) –https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat04.htm
• Black women’s unemployment increased from about 7.7% in August to 8.1% in November.
• White women’s unemployment was near 3.8% in November.
  This means Black women remained about twice as likely to be unemployed as White women.
  Source: Same BLS table – https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat04.htm

Rising unemployment can happen for two main reasons:

1. More people enter the job market and cannot find work,
2. or people lose jobs and cannot find replacements.

From August through November 2025, labor force participation for Black workers did not jump sharply, while the number of Black workers who were unemployed increased and hiring was weak in both the public and private sectors. This pattern suggests that the unemployment rise reflects job losses or slow hiring, not just more people entering the job market.

Additional federal data and reporting help explain the trend:

• The BLS jobs report for November 2025 showed that total nonfarm payrolls grew modestly in the month and the overall unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest in some years.
  Source: BLS Employment Situation Summary – https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
• In October 2025, the U.S. economy lost jobs overall, largely driven by cuts in federal government employment.
  Source: BLS jobs data – https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
• Independent payroll data (ADP) showed private sector jobs declined in November 2025 instead of growing strongly.
  Source: ADP National Employment Report – https://adpemploymentreport.com

Taken together, these data suggest that the job market in late 2025 was not adding enough new jobs and in some cases was shedding jobs, especially in sectors where Black workers are more heavily represented.

Why this matters:

High and persistent unemployment has real consequences for families and communities. It affects income, household budgets, access to benefits, and economic stability. The unemployment gap between Black and White workers continues to be wide, much wider than it is for other groups, and November 2025 was one of the toughest months of the year for Black workers in the job market.