BET founder Bob Johnson says President Trump’s economy is bringing black people back into the workforce. In an appearance on CNBC‘s “Sqauwk Box” on Friday, Johnson praised Trump’s efforts in growing the U.S. economy and improving the business environment through his tax reform bill.
Johnson said he was encouraged after the Labor Department reported the unemployment rates for black workers in January was the lowest since the 1979s.
“When you look at that [January report], you have to say something is going right,” said Johnson, a Democrat who is America’s first black billionaire.
“You have to take encouragement from what’s happening in the labor force and the job market,” Johnson told “Squawk Box.” “When you look at African-American unemployment, you’ve never had African-American unemployment this low and the spread between African-Americans and whites narrowing.”
Johnson said the job market is “soliciting employees who have been out of the labor force, some of it based on discrimination, some of it based on changes in education, access and technology changes.”
Johnson, who said he has known Trump for years, declined a job offer from then president-elect Trump in 2016.
Johnson said he didn’t take the position because he didn’t want a government job.
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