How Does Unemployment Affect African Americans

When it comes to jobs, minorities are at a disadvantage. It has been years since the unemployment level drop, but college graduates across the U.S are still struggling to find jobs. African Americans with a four year degree are starting to notice that the job market is brutal. They are having a tougher time than white folks with the same skill experience. Also, employers can be racially biased, they are more likely to offer the jobs to white candidates. African Americans can face significant discrimination as soon as they put their foot in the door. Obtaining a degree as a minority is a virtuous achievement, but for some employers that’s something they hope doesn’t happen. They know if minority have degrees, then they will demand higher pay.

On the other hand, looking at it from an employers’ point of view, they would rather pay a person seven to eight dollars an hour and not thirteen to sixteen dollars an hour. Minorities were told that they can be anything they want if they earn a high school diploma and a college degree of some kind, but later in life they knew that isn’t true. The gap between blacks, whites, women and Cuban/Mexican/Puerto Rican has been driven by many factors.
Gordon F. De Jong and Anna B. Madamba wrote an article about minority groups, immigrant status, and underemployment in the United States. The objective of this is to see the different types of underemployment experienced by both ethnic immigrant male and female and native born minority workers. How minority workers get routed into a secondary/low income jobs, is it by choice, or is it the working environment or is it because of biased employer?
In the U.S, the economic performance of racial and ethnic groups has been the subject of many questions. This research observe differences in qualification, and the job market outcome between these groups. Immigrant and minority groups are often at a disadvantage in gaining access to high income jobs for which they are educationally experienced, and they earn less than whites, because they are more likely to be discriminated against. (De Jong and Madamba).
Unemployment started to hit the United States in 2007 during the Great Recession.

Minorities were hit the hardest, and the recession made the economy far from stable. Hispanics and African Americans had higher poverty possibility, lower wages and household income, and higher unemployment. White Americans had a better chance in the United States economy. The unemployment rate in 2007-2009 had an impact on the younger generation. They experienced far higher unemployment especially if they were African American or Hispanics. The age range is twenty to twenty four. Their unemployment rose faster than those between twenty five and fifty four year old. After 2009 the recovery started. There were more part-time jobs available. Hispanics had an increase in part time employment sixteen to seventeen percent annually since the beginning of the United States recession. Part time want up twelve present to seventeen present in the process of two years. That’s progress, but white Americans have a higher part time employment percentage. They have nineteen percent of part time employment. African Americans are at fourteen percent, the young Africans Americans make up five percent. The reason the percentage was rising was because of population growth in the working environment. Some companies can’t afford to keep all of their employees. (Reidenbach and

Weller).
Minority discrimination in the workplace is a problem in the United States. It’s still exists even when a company has a diverse working environment. That includes a number of Hispanic, Asian, and African Americans. When payday comes majority of the time there is a glass ceiling. That term is often referred to women or female employees who can’t get beyond their pay level, but this can also apply to other minorities. A large amount of minorities will sometimes find that they don’t get paid the same as their counterparts. They are ignored when the boss or employer decides to promote their counterparts despite equivalent qualifications. The beginning of the recession is when the pay gap started to take place. Hispanics weekly pay was $527.00, Africans Americans weekly pay was $608.00, whites weekly pay $755.00 and Asian weekly pay $877.00. This is a reason why most minority can’t leave the projects. Hispanics and Blacks have lower income than whites, which makes it harder from them to save money. When it’s time to pay the bills it can be difficult if minorities don’t have enough money. Water, food and electricity are not for free. (Kay Bosworth)
Unemployment among blacks is still high in 2015. The unemployment rate is above ten percent. Blacks are still in the double digit. Asians and Hispanics are below seven percent. Being unemployed for a long period of time can have an effect on African Americans economic mobility. Some of the jobs that came back from the recovery were low wage jobs.