Why Is Black Unemployment So High Today?

[Therockj14]

The chart shows differences in unemployment among ethic groups.

The unemployment rates for African-American females is 8.5% in January 2021. The unemployment rates for African-American males is 9.4% in January 2021.

The unemployment rate for white males is 5.5% in January 2021.

The unemployment rate for white females is 5.1% with a 53% employment participation rate in January 2021.

Gaps among racial groups explain a lot of recent events i.e. George Floyd. Black unemployment spikes near recessions. The stock market crashed last March 16th.

Why Is Black Unemployment So High Today?

Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age

 

[get these nets]

Marginalized groups will have worse outcomes when there are lulls or slowdowns in the economy. Even when the economy is robust we occupy the most vulnerable positions within it.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Economic slowdowns impact minorities more than whites. In this case, the pandemic led to massive job losses for people working in non-essential work spaces. A lot of black people work in restaurants and retail, so their employment was wiped out. Sure a whole lot of white people lost their jobs too - probably more in terms of total numbers. But there are disproportionately more white people who have office jobs that resulted in them simply working from home, for instance.

The scary thing is that the unemployment rate doesn't count people who have fallen out of the work force. Those are people who lost their jobs, can't find another, and are now homeless