The demographics of the unemployed – May 2020
Bottom Line: The demos of the unemployed tell a much more specific story about what's really going on in our labor market. As I do monthly, here are the government reported unemployment rates and my adjusted rate based on ethnicity:
- White: 14.2%
- Asians: 14.5%
- Black: 16.7%
- Hispanic: 18.9%
And by gender:
- Men – 13%
- Women – 15.5%
It's staggering in so many ways. We have record high unemployment rates for all groups, except black adults, since demographic information began to be tracked (it wasn’t during the Great Depression). We’ve also seen demographic impacts become clear. For example, for over a decade Asians have typically held the lowest unemployment rate of any group, that’s no longer the case. Ditto Hispanics holding a lower unemployment rate than black adults. That’s no longer the case. We’ve also seen two-year trend in which women generally held a lower unemployment rate. That’s also no longer the case.
Boiling down the demographics of what’s really going on provides additional context for who has been hardest hit by the lockdowns. It’s Hispanic women, followed by Asian women. Both groups experienced the sharpest increase in unemployment rates. It’s extraordinarily sad to see the best jobs economy in US history blown up by the coronavirus lockdowns. Here’s to hoping we’ll be able to begin to pick up the pieces and make our way back as a country and a South Florida community sooner rather than later.