The (Springfield, Mass.) Republican on how news on U.S. jobs keeps getting stronger:

Good news isn’t easy to find on the economic front. At the moment, though, things are looking up.

The unemployment rate on Friday ticked down again to a mere 3.4%, a low that was touched a couple of months back, but previously hadn’t been achieved since 1969. And though that’s worth celebrating, a look beyond the headline numbers provides even more reason to cheer.

The jobless rate for Black and Hispanic Americans, long far too high, has been coming down significantly. In fact, Black unemployment now stands at 4.7%, the lowest since records were kept beginning in 1972; the Hispanic jobless rate, which stood at 4.4%, is also notably low.

These gains are significant. As long as Black and Hispanic employment was badly lagging, the promise of America as the land of opportunity rang hollow for far too many people. With that gap continually closing, the American dream — however one chooses to define it — comes closer to being within reach.

Despite positive news in Friday’s jobs report from the Labor Department, those who tend to look on the dark side have a good bit to fret about. Inflation remains too high. But there’s ample reason to believe things are improving.

No one alive has seen anything like the economic fallout from the pandemic lockdowns and business closings. People’s lives, and businesses, were turned upside-down effectively overnight. But as we’ve gotten back on track, much, though not all, has begun to resemble life as it used to be.

Consider this statistic: In April, 83.3% of workers from 25 to 54 years old, considered the prime working years, were employed or seeking work. That’s the highest since 2008.

Our nation’s economy has countless moving parts. But there are times when the pieces begin to line up and come together, with things working toward a greater good.

Let’s hope we are heading into one of those periods.