Kamala Harris on ‘60 Minutes’ said unemployment is at historic lows for everyone. Half True.

During an interview with CBS’ "60 Minutes," Vice President Kamala Harris faced several pointed questions, including one about how the Biden-Harris administration has handled the economy.

"There are lots of signs that the American economy is doing very well, better than most countries, I think," CBS’ Bill Whitaker said in the interview, which aired Oct. 7. "But the American people don't seem to be feeling it. Groceries are 25% higher and people are blaming you and Joe Biden for that. Are they wrong?"

Harris said, "We now have historic low unemployment in America among all groups of people. We now have an economy that is thriving by all macroeconomic measures. And, to your point, prices are still too high. And I know that, and we need to deal with it, which is why part of my plan — you mentioned groceries. Part of my plan is what we must do to bring down the price of groceries."

We wondered whether Harris was correct that "we now have historic low unemployment in America among all groups of people."

The short answer is that under the Biden-Harris administration, unemployment for all groups has been low by historical standards; in several cases, unemployment hit record lows.

However, Harris said "now," which could lead listeners to think unemployment is at a record low today. That’s not so for any of those groups, since unemployment has trended upward for nearly two years.

We looked at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal government’s official source for unemployment rates, for five categories: overall unemployment, white unemployment, Black unemployment, Latino unemployment and Asian unemployment. We’ll address them in that order.

The record low overall unemployment rate is 2.5%, set in 1953. The lowest rate during the last seven decades came under Biden’s tenure: 3.4% for two months in 2023.

But in the most recent month, September 2024, the rate was 4.1%, or seven-tenths of a point higher than the 70-year low. 

The record low white unemployment rate is 3%, set three times: during several months in 1968-69, one month in 2020 under President Donald Trump and two months in 2022 under Biden.

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Tim Walz

stated on September 21, 2024 in an event in Bethlehem, Pa.

“The last union member on a national ticket (was) Ronald Reagan.”

In the most recent month, September 2024, the rate was 3.6%, or six-tenths of a point above the record.

The record low Black unemployment rate is 4.8%, set in April 2023 under Biden and Harris.

In the most recent month, September 2024, the rate was 5.7%, or nine-tenths of a point above the record.

The record low Latino unemployment rate is 3.9%, a level reached once under Trump in 2019 and once under Biden and Harris in 2022.

In the most recent month, September 2024, the rate was 5.1%, or 1.2 percentage points higher than the record.

Harris was furthest off base with the unemployment picture for Asian Americans.

The all-time low Asian unemployment rate is 2.0%, a level reached under Trump in 2018.

In the most recent month, September 2024, the rate was 4.1%, or more than double the record.

Harris said, "We now have historic low unemployment in America among all groups of people."

Under the Biden-Harris administration, both the overall unemployment rate and the rates for several ethnic and racial groups have been relatively low by historical standards.

However, Harris said "now," which ignores that the unemployment rate has trended upward for nearly two years. The unemployment rate for these groups currently ranges between six-tenths of a point to 2 percentage points above the record low for that group.

We rate the statement Half True.