The People Hit Hardest By Pandemic Job Loss

WAMU 88.5 | By Charla Freeland

Published May 27, 2020 at 2:59 PM CDT

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

With shops and factories closed nationwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, nearly all of the jobs created in the US economy in the last decade were wiped out in March and April.

Unemployment rates have surged during the pandemic. But which demographics are most affected by it?

The latest employment data show us that women have faced the majority of job losses during the pandemic. Workers at the low end of the wage distribution are primarily black and Latino. And 35 percent of them have lost their jobs, while those at the top of wage distribution have only experience a nine percent job loss.

From The Washington Post:

leisure and hospitality, such as hotels and restaurants; retail; and construction, where Latino men make up more than a quarter of workers.

We talk about who is hurt most and how they can get help amid the crisis.