Democracy Dies in Darkness

This is how economic pain is distributed in America

Job losses due to the coronavirus shutdown have fallen unequally on Americans according to age, gender, educational attainment and race

May 9, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment April 6 in Fort Smith, Ark., after coronavirus outbreak. (Nick Oxford/Reuters)

As the unemployment rate soared in April to its highest levels since the Great Depression, with 14.7 percent of workers without jobs, the coronavirus shutdown fell unequally on Americans according to age, gender, educational attainment as well as race.

Women became unemployed at higher rates than men. Hispanics and blacks were hit harder than whites and Asians. Those without high school diplomas fared the worst. As did teenagers, of whom nearly a third are now out of work.