The demographics of the unemployed – July 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 based on demographics:
- White: 10.1%(lower)
- Asians:13.8%(lower)
- Hispanic: 14.5% (lower)
- Black: 15.4% (lower)
And by gender:
- Men – 10.2% (lower)
- Women – 11.2% (lower)
The most encouraging news is that every group benefited from the record setting job gains in June. This wasn’t the case previously. We’ve also seen Hispanics, the hardest hit group during the pandemic, see the largest gains over the past couple of months. Less ideal are the realities of how many are still suffering. Unemployment is higher than 10% for all demographics. There’s a huge disconnect in the economy based on ethnicity, with Blacks having an unemployment rate that’s greater than 50% higher than Whites. Its clear minorities have had the hardest time, on balance, during the pandemic – with the toll having been hardest on Black adults. This is especially discouraging after having reached record low unemployment rates and record high incomes for Blacks just prior to the lockdowns. Will these jobs return? How long will it take for them to return? More questions than answers currently. Still progress is progress, and there was a lot of it in June. The July landscape is bumpier because of the spike in coronavirus cases, but hopefully we maintain the gains we’ve seen since the depths of the recession in April.