As I said earlier, I don’t normally spend a lot of time on the details of the monthly jobs report. This month is an exception since people are understandably interested in the effect that the coronavirus lockdown has had. With that in mind, here’s an excerpt from the household survey:
There are several obvious takeaways:
- Men and women are losing jobs at about the same rate. Both groups now have an unemployment rate of 4.0 percent.
- Whites and blacks are losing jobs at the same rate. Asians and Hispanics are losing jobs at a much higher rate.
- The poorer you are, the more likely you are to lose your job. Among those with no high school diploma, unemployment is up 1.1 points. Among college grads, unemployment is up only 0.6 points.
Keep in mind that these figures only go through mid-March, so they should be considered tentative. Next month’s report will include all ten million (or more) who have lost their jobs and will give us a much better idea of where job losses are concentrated.
