Unemployment Rate

Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity
Marcel Palomo
ECON 201
17 MAR 13
Professor Mills

Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity There has always been a difference between unemployment rate from the four major ethnic groups which are White, Black or African, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian My paper will examine why there is such diversity in amongst these groups. People of Asian descent have the lowest unemployment rates compared to the other four groups, while unemployment among Hispanics and Blacks is higher than that of Whites and Blacks being the up high. In 2007, the year which recession begun, the unemployment rate for each group was at a low not exceeding 9%. In 2011, each group reached its peak and is slowly trickling down.

Race/Ethnicity | February 2013 | Month/Month
(Points) | Year/Year
(Points) | White | 6.8% | -0.2 | -0.6 | Black or
African American | 13.8% | 0.0 | -0.3 | Hispanic or Latino | 9.6% | -0.1 | -1.0 | Asian | 6.1% | -0.4 | -0.2 | | | | |
Unemployment Rate: White (Blue), Black (Green), Hispanic/Latino (Yellow), Asian (Red)
(Department)
Discrimination and racial profiling plays a huge part into unemployment. Although we have “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, and gender” (GSA) it still occurs every day. “There have been large studies that show the differences between racial pay” (Ritter & Taylor). People of different races could have the same skills and about the same education level and it seems that whites get paid more than most other group. When it comes to getting laid off data shows that blacks tend to lose their jobs first and they have the most difficult time to find employment and that is one of the reasons why they have the highest unemployment rate. (Rodgers, W.) When it comes to racial profiling the mangers that are running the hiring positions are more inclined to choose people such as themselves. For the most part the people that sit in those positions are Whites and Asians, and they are more than likely to hire one of their own. One of the reasons why Asians and Whites are holding more of a white collar job is education. Statics show that out of the four groups they are more prone to achieving their degree than Blacks and Hispanics. Also, Asians are the only group that make more than Whites and that’s because they are determined to get their education and about 50% of their group hold a degree and that is why their unemployment rate is so low compared to the other groups. When it comes to job experience Blacks have the least amount of job experience in most fields because of education and discrimination (Couch & Daly). A corroding to statistics most Blacks don’t finish high school and in today’s society the standard is no long a BA but a masters. So the biggest obstacle that is leading them towards a downward spin is education and with our world’s population ever growing so are there statistics Hispanics unemployment is great than Whites but less than Blacks. Since the demand of education went up they decided to move as well. Most Hispanics hold a blue collar job and when it comes to hiring a Hispanic or a Black they are more than likely to get the job done. This is where racial profiling comes to play. Hispanics are known well to work with their hands and that they are supposed to be superior. Another thing that is associate with that is they work for cheap and most people think why not payless for more. Finally, this concludes my finding about unemployment amongst the four major ethnic groups. The two major factors that determine unemployment are education and profiling. Education is by far the most important out of the two and the Asian group is the example that proves it, seeing that more than 50% seeing that discrimination did go down over the years but the degree ultimately decides you are qualified for the job. However, that is not always the case. Even though there are laws that are supposed to protect us from discrimination, it always finds its way through. For instance, Asians are classified as the hardest working ethnic group for office work and Hispanics are classified as the hardest working hands on work. If there are two people to apply for the same job and with the same qualification they would be more incline to go with the racial stereotype. Now the unemployment rate is dropping and there will hopefully be full employment. I know that it’s not possible to have a 0% unemployment anytime soon but as we can see the unemployment rate has dropped in each group since 2011 and has continued to head in that direction. We still have quite some time till we reach the goal of escaping the grasp of unemployment.

References
Block, W., & Portillo, J. (August, 2012). Journal of Business Ethics: Anti-Discrimination Laws, Vol. 109 Issue 2. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=08bffca7-b69b- 47fd-98ca-a8b01ada7252%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=101
General Service Administration: Equal Employment Opportunity Retrieved from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/101013
Ritter, J., & Taylor, L. (February 2011) Review of Economics & Statistics Vol. 93 Issue 1 Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/detail?sid=45a833c5-992d-427b-ba91-751bdd3e228b%40sessionmgr115&vid=3&hid=109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=57524730 Rodgers, W., (May 2008) African American and White Differences in the Impacts of Monetary Policy on the Duration of Unemployment: American Economic Review Issue 2 Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/detail?sid=fbef2b0b-42db-424b-b403-138dc697e97b%40sessionmgr115&vid=3&hid=4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=32543681 Department of Numbers (2013) Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity Retrieved from http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/demographics/
Couch, K., & Daly, M. C. (2002). Black-White Wage Inequality in the 1990s: A Decade of Progress Retrieved from http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ321/rosburg/Couch%20and%20Daly%20-%20Black White%20wage%20inequality%20in%20the%201990s-%20Decade%20of%20progress.pdf

References: Block, W., & Portillo, J. (August, 2012). Journal of Business Ethics: Anti-Discrimination Laws, Vol. 109 Issue 2. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=08bffca7-b69b- 47fd-98ca-a8b01ada7252%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=101 General Service Administration: Equal Employment Opportunity Retrieved from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/101013 Ritter, J., & Taylor, L. (February 2011) Review of Economics & Statistics Vol. 93 Issue 1 Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/detail?sid=45a833c5-992d-427b-ba91-751bdd3e228b%40sessionmgr115&vid=3&hid=109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=57524730 Rodgers, W., (May 2008) African American and White Differences in the Impacts of Monetary Policy on the Duration of Unemployment: American Economic Review Issue 2 Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/detail?sid=fbef2b0b-42db-424b-b403-138dc697e97b%40sessionmgr115&vid=3&hid=4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=32543681 Department of Numbers (2013) Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity Retrieved from http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/demographics/ Couch, K., & Daly, M. C. (2002). Black-White Wage Inequality in the 1990s: A Decade of Progress Retrieved from http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ321/rosburg/Couch%20and%20Daly%20-%20Black White%20wage%20inequality%20in%20the%201990s-%20Decade%20of%20progress.pdf