How Black Americans Fared Economically Under Donald Trump and Joe Biden

The economy is likely to be a hot topic of discussion as President Joe Biden is set to debate on Thursday his predecessor Donald Trump, who is looking to reclaim the presidency, ahead of the election in November.

One key voting bloc that both candidates will be trying to attract is African-American voters. In a close election, where a few thousand votes can make a difference, how this group of voters cast their ballot could determine the eventual victor in the fall.

"The African American community [fared] reasonably well under President Trump up through the onset of the Great COVID pandemic," Gary Burtless, senior fellow emeritus in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, told Newsweek. "When Biden took office, the black economic situation dramatically improved, faster than usually Black economic fortunes improve when you go from recession to sort of economic prosperity on the whole."

Polls show that Biden has an edge over Trump. Asked if the election were held today, who would they vote for, 77 percent of Black voters leaned Biden while 18 percent went with Trump, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in May.

But the lead the Democrat Biden commands over his Republican challenger Trump is lower than what it was four years ago when the two candidates faced each other the first time around. In 2020, 92 percent of Black voters went with Biden compared to 8 percent for Trump.

Black Americans say that strengthening the economy is a top priority for them, with 76 percent naming it as an issue the president should address this year, just behind improving education, the Pew survey showed.

Newsweek took a look at how African Americans fared under the two leaders during their time in office through the lens of jobs, wages, labor force participation and homeownership rates.

Jobs

When Trump took office in January 2017, the unemployment rate for Black workers was at 7.5 percent, a little over 2 percentage points higher than the national rate, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When he left office four years later, the jobless rate for African-Americans stood at more than 9 percent. One caveat that is worth noting is that the U.S. economy was hit by a COVID-induced crisis, which led to millions of Americans losing their jobs. Right before the pandemic hit, the unemployment rate for African-American workers was at 6.1 percent.

After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election and took over the presidency in January 2021, the Black unemployment rate was over 9 percent amidst the economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic. That has now dropped to 6.1 percent as of May 2024.

The Black labor participation rate, which plunged during COVID, has recovered to the pre-pandemic era at about 63 percent. Meanwhile, the level of employment for African Americans has also gone back to where it was prior to the onset of the coronavirus. There were 20.6 million African Americans employed as of May, compared to about 19.7 million in February 2020, before the pandemic-induced job losses hit the U.S. economy, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data.

Burtless said that based on the speed of the recovery following COVID, he would grant a slight edge to Biden even though both leaders saw some improvement on the economic front for African Americans.

"Relative to long economic history, both administrations have fared pretty well for [the] African American community," he said.

Newsweek contacted the Trump and Biden campaigns for comment via email on Thursday.

Wages

Meanwhile, looking at wages, when Trump was in office, Black Americans earned $300 per week in the first quarter of 2020, right before the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2024, during the Biden administration, wages were at $293, BLS data shows.

E.J. Antoni, an economist at the Heritage Foundation, pointed out that it was worth noting when looking at wages how far that income can go during a time of elevated inflation. Prices accelerated substantially over the last four years, and Antoni suggested that spending during the Biden administration contributed to rising inflation.

"There are obvious policy implications there where you can trace, for example, specific spending bills under the Biden administration and point to them and say there was a clear inflationary impact behind all of that excess spending," he told Newsweek.

Homeownership rates

As of the first quarter of 2024, the American homeownership rate, which is the proportion of households that own their homes, was at 57.5 percent. African Americans lag the national rate by double-digit at close to 46 percent.

Danielle Hale, the chief economist at Realtor.com, pointed out that homeownership rates across demographic groups have been going up. While it was unclear if there was anything policy-specific during the years before the onset COVID that was done to improve homeownership rates, low rates prior to the pandemic had created opportunities for potential buyers.

"Affordability did improve with the very beginning of the pandemic with rates so low before prices began to skyrocket," she told Newsweek.

At the moment, the housing market is grappling with elevated rates and high mortgage rates that are making it tough for buyers to afford to buy a home. The Biden administration has made efforts to improve the affordability issues but owning a home is still beyond the reach of many Americans.

There are more homes for buyers, especially in the South, at the $200,000 to $350,000 price range but properties were still expensive.

"They are still paying more for what they get, but they do have more options to choose from," Hale said.

How to Watch the Debate

The debate will be hosted by CNN and is expected to begin at 9 p.m. ET in Atlanta.

"The debate will be held in CNN's Atlanta studios. CNN Anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will serve as moderators. To ensure candidates may maximize the time allotted in the debate, no audience will be present," CNN said in a news release shared with Newsweek.

Read more: Compare the Best Streaming Services for Live TV

"The CNN Presidential Debate will air live on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Max and stream without a cable login on CNN.com. CNN will make the debate available to simulcast on additional broadcast and cable news networks in the United States."