Less employment among blacks, Hispanics in US economy

Millions of Americans have gone back to work as the vaccines against COVID-19 have helped quell the outbreak; however, employers are seemingly hiring fewer black and Hispanic workers, entrenching persistent inequalities in the United States.

The divides are fueled by long-running employment discrimination, experts say, worsened by unique, virus-related disruptions that have left many job seekers unable to find work they can get to or feel safe doing.

"We haven't actually addressed those underlying power disparities in the economy," said Kate Bahn, director of labor market policy with the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

After skyrocketing to 14.7 per cent in April 2020, when business restrictions to stop the virus from spreading were at their tightest, the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 per cent in June, according to the Labor Department.

But the gains were not shared equally: the jobless rate for black workers was 9.2 per cent and for Hispanics 7.4 per cent, compared with 5.2 per cent for whites.

The racial and ethnic employment gaps in the world's largest economy were present even when unemployment was at record lows before the pandemic.

In Washington, the issue is receiving renewed attention from President Joe Biden, who has put forth massive spending plans he says will help reshape the economy and make it more inclusive.

And the Federal Reserve has pledged to keep interest rates low for longer to increase hiring of racial minorities – something that took nearly a decade following the 2008 global financial crisis.

"We all do better when the pie is bigger, and you get the pie bigger by being aggressive about this," William Spriggs, chief economist of the AFL-CIO trade union federation said

The Labor Department is due to release the latest employment report on Friday. Some economists expect it will show the economy gaining over 1 million jobs in July and lowering the unemployment rate to 5.6 per cent as more businesses reopen.

The July data showed unemployment for white women was 5 per cent, despite losing jobs last year at about the same rate as black workers, who have seen much slower rehiring. The trend is similar for Hispanics.

Daily Saba