The unemployment rate for black workers fell to the lowest rate on record in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The rate fell from 7.2 percent to 6.8 percent in the month, beating the previous low of 7 percent set in April 2000. The bureau has data going back to 1972.
The data point is one of several encouraging milestones that have been reached as the jobs recovery has stretched into its eighth year.
Unemployment also hit a record low for Hispanic Americans in November, although that rate ticked up slightly in December.
Nevertheless, black Americans still face significantly higher rates of unemployment than do other races and ethnic groups.
And the unemployment rate for black teenagers remains high at 22.9 percent, although that rate is down from near 50 percent in the worst days of the recession.
The unemployment rate for white teenagers, for example, is 12.3 percent.
