Since April, 90 percent of those who have faced unemployment in the United States are Black.
According to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Black workers comprise approximately 267,000 out of the 300,000 new unemployment cases in the last few months. The unemployment rate for Black Americans is currently at 6 percent, double the rate for White workers, which falls at 3.1 percent.
Black Americans saw a record low in unemployment during the month of April, which also saw the smallest gap between Black and White unemployment. Unemployment among Black workers then spiked in June, rising to the highest rate its been since August of last year.
From April to June, Black unemployment rose 1.3 percentage points, the fastest increase since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Unemployment among Hispanic and Asian workers also rose during the months, at 4.3 percent and 3.2 percent respectively, which is considered an effect of their return to the workforce following the height of the pandemic.
Unemployment in the United States is currently at 3.6 percent, which is around the same as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. In April, the rate was 3.4 percent — the lowest it's been since 1969. Inflation has also stalled, remaining at the same as it was in 2021 at about 3.8 percent.
While this marks an improvement for workers of color, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' report shows that Black workers in particular are still disproportionately vulnerable to the shifting economy. Research reveals that Black workers are often the first to be fired during times of economic hardship, which could also be a troubling sign for the workforce overall.
As William Rodgers, director of the St. Louis Fed’s Institute of Economic Equity, told Bloomberg: “If conditions continue to weaken, or even accelerate, the gains won by Black workers and other vulnerable groups could diminish quickly."
