The labor force for adult Black men rose to a record high in June in a sign that U.S. workers may be trying to take advantage of a fast recovery and higher wages being touted by some companies.
Black men over 20 still have the highest unemployment rate of all the race and gender groups tracked by the Department of Labor, at 10%, as employment climbed at a slower pace than labor-force growth.
But the gap between Black and White labor-force participation shrank to its lowest level ever.
Black and Latina women also returned to the workforce at a fast clip in June, increasing their pool of overall workers either employed or looking for a job to the highest level since March of 2020.
Latino men older than 20 were the only major race and gender cohort to see a drop in their unemployment rate, to 6.6% from 6.7%.
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