The May report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed the U.S. added 172,000 jobs — much more than expected — and that the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, but for Black workers, hiring has been mild and layoffs are limited. What is most striking is that the ability of currently employed Black workers to push for better pay or conditions has become more difficult.
Cantrell Dumas, senior researcher for financial regulation and policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, told the Amsterdam News that the May numbers are an improvement for Black workers compared with April, but this certainly doesn’t mean that disparities have disappeared. “Unemployment for Black men and women, the overall numbers — I think it’s encouraging: It fell from 7.3 % to 6.6% from April to May, which is pretty meaningful,” he said.
Dumas noted that the unemployment rate for Black workers was 6.6% in May, higher than the 3.8% for white workers and higher than Black unemployment was a year earlier, when it was 6.0% in May 2024. In April, the official national unemployment number was also strong, while Black workers lost ground; in May, Black unemployment moved lower but remained the highest for any racial group.
Dumas also said unemployment among young Black workers rose from 13.4% to 14.1% in May, but the onsest of summer hiring could soon cover up this weakness in hiring for young workers.
Many economists had expected to see 85,000 to 90,000 new jobs in the May report, so the 172,000 gain was a major surprise. Coupled with the fact that the Trump administration revised March and April payroll estimates upward by a combined 93,000 jobs, that has made this spring’s hiring picture look a lot stronger than previously reported. In April, payroll growth was at first reported at 115,000; the revised figure is now 179,000. Those numbers support the idea that the labor market has not fallen apart — even if many of these gains are in job sectors that do not necessarily give bargaining power to workers.
According to the BLS, leisure and hospitality added 70,000 jobs in May, local government added 55,000, healthcare added 35,000, and manufacturing added 7,000. Financial activities lost 22,000 jobs. The numbers in construction, retail trade, wholesale trade, information, and professional and business services didn’t change much. Dumas described it as: “The labor force has changed very little; no one’s getting fired; no one’s been hired.”
In terms of what this means for workers and their bargaining power, Dumas said the issue is sector-specific.
Workers in industries with little movement may have less room to demand more, while workers in sectors still adding jobs may have some more leverage. In general, though, a low-fire, low-hire economy is not necessarily worker-friendly. If people fear they cannot easily find another job, they may be less willing to risk the one they have, he said.
