Wage Growth Surges Among Non-Whites in Tight U.S. Labor Market

(Bloomberg) -- As unemployment hit a five-decade low last month, jobless rates among black Americans also held at a record low, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The jobless rate among black Americans fell to 5.5% in August and held that rate in September. Unemployment among black Americans is still 57% higher than national unemployment, which fell to 3.5%. The unemployment rates for Asian and Hispanic Americans also keep falling.

A tight labor market has also resulted in higher wages, especially for non-white Americans. Newly released data from the Atlanta Federal Reserve shows that non-white incomes are up more than a full percentage point from a year earlier and are now increasing at the fastest pace in a decade.

The spread in wage growth between non-whites and whites rose to a record last month, according to the Atlanta Fed data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah McGregor at smcgregor5@bloomberg.net, Rebecca Greenfield, Chris Middleton

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