Despite the low unemployment rate in the U.S, Black Americans are twice susceptible to unemployment compared to white Americans. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recorded a 7.1% unemployment rate of African Americans compared to the national average of 4.2% (BLS, 2022). Racism and inequality in education in the U.S causes structural, cyclical, and frictional unemployment. Structural racism in education has disadvantaged Black Americans by offering them lower levers of education resulting in a higher unemployment rate as compared to the other races.
Systemic racism in the U.S. is the primary cause of the unemployment gap. Even with compatible qualifications, black workers are less likely to be employed than white workers causing structural unemployment. According to Montenovo et al. (2020), the majority of the job placements in the U.S are still filled through referrals without classified advertisements disadvantaging the blacks since most employers are whites. Racial divides in the U.S. and poor policies hinder equal and fair employment opportunities.
Compared to white Americans, African Americans have a relatively low rate of education in the U.S. High dropout rates by African Americans, the exorbitant cost of education, and poor performance in public institutions compared to private schools contribute mainly to the education gap. Education is directly consistent with the employment status, especially for high-skill jobs causing structural unemployment (Gezici & Ozay, 2020). The majority of the black labor force is restricted to low-skill jobs, mainly affected by cyclical and frictional unemployment.
The education disparities mean that African Americans have lower chances of getting jobs and the opportunities available to them are mainly in the blue-collar sectors. Differences in the labor market across racial ethnicity are attributable to racism and low education for African Americans. Racial profiling, the unequal opportunity to education, and lack of policy to curb referral employment. More aggressive legislative policies and action are required to combat systematic racism and educational mismatch to bridge the unemployment gap between black and white Americans.