The impact of the coronavirus on African American unemployment: lessons from history

Abstract

In this article, our fundamental research question is to investigate the effect of the Coronavirus (named COVID-19) on the African American labor market. More specifically, we attempt to examine the potential economic impact of COVID-19 on the state of racial disparities among the African American labor market by examining two effects, namely, employment and income differentials, using national, state, and city level data (using data for all 77 neighborhood areas of the City of Chicago). Our central finding is that the labor market does not appear to treat black and white laborers as homogeneous, as attested by the finding that African American workers suffer from higher unemployment rates with higher volatility, lower median incomes, and they are more likely to work in the service sector, compared to their white counterparts, and we find this condition to be even larger in the City of Chicago. These findings have important policy implications.