![]() In comparison, the employment-to-population ratio measures the share of the population that is employed, avoiding the issue of who is counted in the labor force since it does not exclude individuals who are not actively looking for a job. This population of “disconnected” individuals is important to monitor, as their lack of attachment to the labor market provides important information about the economy. While this standard unemployment rate reports the number of people who are actively looking for work and do not have a job, it ignores individuals who are not actively looking for work. When talking about unemployment rates, it is important to consider different labor market variables, as the standard unemployment rate-known as U-3-does not provide the full picture. Measuring the labor market gaps between African Americans and whites The unemployment gap between African Americans and whites has persisted for nearly 50 years policymakers need to address it before the economy can ever truly be at full employment. Finally, policymakers need to allocate more resources toward enforcing and strengthening existing civil rights laws. Another is to instill workforce development programs with equity initiatives in order to address structural barriers in the labor market. For example, one solution is to reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system and provide opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals. These solutions do not place the burden on individuals, but rather focus on the systems preventing African Americans from fully participating in the labor market. This brief provides a framework in the form of solutions to narrow unemployment gaps between African Americans and whites. ![]() Yet given that the racial gap in unemployment has not narrowed-but rather persists-an alternative framework is needed to explain why. This issue brief’s analysis shows that the racial gap in EPOP is narrowing, which means that the labor market is tightening and, therefore, that the racial gap in unemployment should narrow as well, since there will be a larger pool of African American workers available for existing job openings. For instance, the unemployment rate does not measure the strength of the labor market strength is better illustrated through the share of workers employed in the population, or the employment-to-population ratio (EPOP). However, focusing on unemployment rates as a measure of economic progress has its pitfalls. 5 For example, African Americans have higher unemployment rates across all educational attainment levels and age cohorts than whites, and African Americans who are veterans have a higher unemployment rate than white veterans-though this gap is smaller. And a 2019 Center for American Progress issue brief highlighted the fact that unemployment gaps between African Americans and whites occur across all demographic groups. 4 For example, in Washington, D.C., the African American unemployment rate is six times higher than the white rate. Between January 1972 and December 2019, it never reached as low as 1 1/2 times the white rate.Ī recent study by the Brookings Institution found that the unemployment rate is even worse in many majority-African American metro areas. ![]() But even when the African American rate fell below double the white rate, it never fell very far, as African Americans experienced greater amounts of layoffs. The rate dropped after the recession’s start and lasted a few months after the technical end as the white rate increased. The only time that the African American unemployment rate was significantly less than twice the white unemployment rate was during the Great Recession. ![]() 3 In fact, between January 1972 and December 2019, other than during the aftermaths of recessions, the African American unemployment rate has stayed at or above twice the white rate. Bureau of Labor Statistics started collecting data on the African American unemployment rate in January 1972, this rate has more often than not been twice as high as the white unemployment rate. 2 Yet as Figure 1 shows, this has not been the case. ![]() 1 Unsurprisingly, this history of structural racism has created gaps in labor market outcomes between African Americans and whites.īetween strides in civil rights legislation, desegregation of government, and increases in educational attainment, employment gaps should have narrowed by now, if not completely closed. labor market, African Americans have long been excluded from opportunities for upward mobility, stuck instead in low-wage occupations that do not offer the protections of labor laws, such as those focused on collective bargaining, overtime, and the minimum wage. ![]()
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