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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

The lowest unemployment for women and Blacks did not occur under former President Donald Trump. The lowest-ever rate for Hispanics was reached under Trump and President Joe Biden.

Here are the lowest rates ever for each group; the lowest under Trump (January 2017-January 2021); and under Biden (January 2021-May 2024):

For women, the lowest rate (back to 1948) was 2.7% in May 1953.

Trump’s lowest was 3.4% (September, October 2019). Biden’s was 3.3% (January 2023).

For Blacks, the lowest-ever rate (starting in 1972) was 4.8% under Biden (April 2023). Trump’s lowest was 5.3.% (August 2019).

For Hispanics, the lowest-ever rate (starting in 1973) was 3.9%, under both Trump (September 2019) and Biden (September 2022).

An employment claim was made June 18, 2024, by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in a Milwaukee radio talk show interview. He said that under Trump, employment was the highest ever among women, Blacks and Hispanics.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Google Docs: BLS unemployment statistics women, Blacks, Hispanics

FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis): Unemployment Rate – Women (Trump)

FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis): Unemployment Rate – Women (Biden)

FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis): Unemployment Rate – Black or African American (Trump)

FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis): Unemployment Rate – Hispanic or Latino (Trump)

FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis): Unemployment Rate – Hispanic or Latino (Biden)

IHeart: Vicki McKenna Show – Handshake Agreement – The Vicki McKenna Show

FactCheck.org: Tim Scott’s False and Misleading Claims About Unemployment

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Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time reporter in October 2024. He started as a fact checker in January 2023 and contributes to our collaboration with the The Gigafact Project to fight misinformation online. Kertscher is a former longtime newspaper reporter, including at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He is a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and sports freelancer for The Associated Press.