Unemployment for Black, Asian and Hispanic workers has risen in the last few months while the White labor force has seen a slight decrease in joblessness.
Investopia reports joblessness rose sharply with Blacks spiking 25% since May and Hispanic and Asians seeing a 10% increase during that time period.
“What’s unique about the current moment is that so much of the damage is self-inflicted,” Valerie Rawlston Wilson, director of the program on race, ethnicity, and the economy at the Economic Policy Institute, told Investopedia.
“Massive cuts to the federal workforce, historically high and broad tariffs, and mass deportations are all policy changes that happened quickly and in a highly chaotic way, creating an environment of uncertainty that dampens economic growth.”
From May to June alone, Black unemployment rose 13% in one month. Asian unemployment rose 0.4% and Hispanics 0.2% during that same period. There’s concern, however, about the reliability of those numbers given that President Trump fired his Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner.
The current unemployment rate for Asians is 3.7%, Hispanics 5.3% and Black workers 7.5%.
White unemployment is at 3.7%, a slight downturn from 3.8%.
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
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