*Rates of participation in the labor force (at work or looking for work) and unemployment vary by age, race, and gender. In October of 2019, 83.6% of prime-age (25-54 years old) black males and 78.8% of prime-age black females participated. The black male unemployment rate was 4.7%; the female rate 4.5%. For prime-age whites the participation rates were 90.2% and 77.3% and the unemployment rates were 2.4% for men and 2.7% for women. For this age group, black male unemployment was, in fact, twice the white rate.
** Also important, average pay for African Americans has fallen farther behind white pay in the twenty-first century (2000-2017). The median wage gap between whites and blacks went from 21% to 27%.
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Frank Stricker is emeritus professor of history and interdisciplinary studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is on the board of the National Jobs for All Network. His views here are his own. His book, American Unemployment: Past, Present, and Future, contains a new history of the subject and sharp analyses of key concepts and solutions. It will be published in June 2020.
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