The gap between the US unemployment
rates for blacks and whites widened further in June, to its
largest in five years, underscoring the uneven nature of the
nascent recovery from historic job losses triggered by the
coronavirus pandemic.
Jobless rates for both groups fell in June, but the rate for
whites came down at a much faster rate. The white unemployment
rate fell 2.3 percentage points to 10.1% from 12.4%, while the
rate for blacks dropped 1.4 points to 15.4% from 16.8%.
At 5.3 percentage points, the gap is now the widest since
May 2015 and exposes an important economic component of racial
inequality at a pivotal moment in US race relations. In recent
weeks, the country has witnessed protests over police brutality
against African Americans, particularly black men.
The coronavirus pandemic brought an abrupt end to the record-long US economic expansion just as it was creating better job opportunities for black workers and other minorities. Job losses fell hardest on women and workers of colour.
The overall drop in the black unemployment rate in June was
driven by a rise in the number of women returning to work as
bars, restaurants and retail stores re-opened, reversing some
job losses they suffered in March and April.
The unemployment rate for black men rose in June to 16.3%,
the highest level since the fall of 2011, from 15.5% in May. In
contrast, the unemployment rate for black women dropped to 14%
from 16.5% in May.
The widening spread between racial group jobless rates in
the last two months has undone years of gains that slowly
narrowed the gap in unemployment rates between blacks and
whites.
Last August, the unemployment rate for black workers dropped
to a record low of 5.4% and the gap between black and white
workers narrowed to 2 points, the narrowest since the Labor
Department retooled its measurement of employment by race in
1972.
Black workers now have the highest unemployment rate
compared to other racial or ethnic groups. The unemployment rate
for Hispanic workers dropped to 14.5% in June from 17.6% in May.
The unemployment rate for Asian workers dropped to 13.8% from
15%.