The deep socio-economic divides in American society have impacted the unemployment rates even before the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the virus has exacerbated the issue. There have been two distinct experiences during the pandemic: first, people with graduate education, who kept stable jobs through working remotely; second, those who either lost or got reduced in their jobs with no safety net (Blustein et al., 2020).
The key determinants of work availability are power and privilege, unevenly divided across racial, gender, and education lines (Blustein et al., 2020). The national socio-economic gaps lie between those who have a college education and those who do not (Galea & Abdalla, 2020). Within the framework of education access, race and ethnicity represent a major division plane between Americans. The black demographic faces racism in hiring, seeking housing, and everyday life, resulting in systemic marginalization (Galea & Abdalla, 2020). Therefore, the issue of unequal job availability persists, with racial divides being particularly striking recently.
Discerning socio-economic groups’ post-pandemic recovery rates from April 2020 paints a clear picture. The divide is demonstrated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022): there seems to be an improvement post-pandemic, with the average unemployment rate decreasing from 14.7% in April 2020 to 4% now. However, for the black population, the unemployment rate reached 16.8% in April 2020; later, stalled at 10.9% in October 2020 and then only lowered to 6.9% in January 2022 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022).
In contrast, the white demographic presents a steady decrease within six months from April 2020; by October 2020, unemployment more than halved from 14.1% to 6.0%. Higher education, stable jobs, and support networks contribute to the higher-than-average unemployment rates for the black demographic (Galea & Abdalla, 2020). This statistic demonstrates the uneven struggle to recover from the pandemic-induced and general unemployment.