The job market does not treat everyone equally in the United States. While the recent pandemic and the corresponding economic downturn affected most Americans, some demographic groups have suffered significantly. This difference can be seen on the unemployment rate chart. According to the Civilian unemployment rate (n.d.), the national unemployment rate for July 2022 is 3.5%. It is drastically lower than the total of 10% in July 2020, meaning that the economy is recovering and more people are going back to work (Civilian unemployment rate, n.d.). However, there is a visible disparity between the national unemployment rate and that of the Hispanic or Latino demographic group, which was 12.8% in 2020 and is currently at 3.9% (Civilian unemployment rate, n.d.). This contrast is the result of several trends that exist in American society nowadays.
Apart from being the most obvious reason, structural racism is a valid option that explains the difference between the unemployment rate for Hispanic individuals in the U.S. This is because there are several major implications that affect these people’s lives and job opportunities. For example, to maintain a job position, a person must have access to education, good transportation, quality housing, and affordable child care, which are less available to people of color (Marshall-Genzer, 2021). Additionally, Hispanic individuals face more racially motivated discrimination than an average American when applying for a job. At the same time, they are more likely to have minimal-wage service jobs, where, during the pandemic, they were let go (Marshall-Genzer, 2021). Thus now, unless Hispanic people have access to vaccination, finding a job can prove to be rather difficult (Guo et al., 2022). Together, all of this explains the difference between the national unemployment rate and the Hispanic demographic group.
References
Civilian unemployment rate. (n.d.) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Guo, Y., Kaniuka, A. R., Gao, J., & Sims, O. T. (2022). An epidemiologic analysis of associations between county-level per capita income, unemployment rate, and COVID-19 vaccination rates in the United States.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3).
Marshall-Genzer, N. (2021). Why are unemployment rates higher for Black and Hispanic workers?Marketplace.