The Black unemployment rate is consistently twice that of white workers. Here's why

"Discrimination still exists," one economist told ABC News.

A surge in hiring last month far exceeded expectations and kept the unemployment rate at a near-historic low -- but the strong performance didn't benefit everyone.

The unemployment rate among Black men jumped to 5.3% in January, rising from 4.6% over the previous month, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday.

The divergent fates of Black and white workers last month exemplify a broader disparity in employment between the two groups that stretches back more than 50 years.

Since the U.S. first collected such data, in 1972, the Black unemployment rate has consistently stood at levels twice as high as the unemployment rate among white people. The relationship has undergone occasional shifts up or down but quickly returned to a level of two to one.

"There is no other relationship in the labor market that is nearly this consistent and stable," Valerie Wilson, the director of a program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told ABC News.