Former President Donald Trump is actively trying to appeal to Black voters, but he has been making inaccurate claims in the process. During a roundtable discussion at a Black church in Detroit, Trump stated that President Joe Biden has not done anything for the Black community except talk. Trump also claimed that he achieved the lowest African American unemployment rate and poverty rate ever recorded during his presidency. However, while these claims were true at the time he made them, new record lows have been set under Biden’s presidency.
Trump could have stated that during his presidency, Black unemployment and poverty reached their lowest levels ever recorded at that point. Instead, he tried to use outdated records as evidence that he has done more for the Black community than Biden. The data shows that the record low for Black unemployment was set under Biden in April 2023 at 4.8%, surpassing Trump’s record low of 5.3% in August and September 2019. The most recent Black unemployment rate is 6.1% in May 2024, which is an increase from the record low but still historically low.
In January 2021, when Biden took over from Trump, the Black unemployment rate was 9.3%, showing how economic factors beyond the president impact unemployment rates. The record low for the official poverty rate among Black individuals was set under Biden in 2022 at 17.1%, surpassing Trump’s record low of 18.8% in 2019. However, there are different ways to measure poverty, and under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which considers various factors, the record low for Black individual poverty was set under Biden at 11.3%.
The supplemental poverty rate for Black individuals rose to 17.2% in 2022 after the expiration of pandemic relief efforts that had helped lower the figure in 2020 and 2021. While Trump did see record lows in Black unemployment and poverty during his presidency, these records have since been surpassed under Biden’s presidency. It is important to consider all relevant data and factors when evaluating claims made by politicians, especially when it comes to issues as critical as Black unemployment and poverty rates.
