By Christopher Pitts
- Of the 19 million people who will receive regular unemployment benefits in July, 53% are women and 47% are people of color
- The unemployment rate for Black men is now at its highest point at 16.3%
Throughout this pandemic congress has found a way to intervene with its unemployment insurance that positively helped brown and Black communities along with the economy overall, now it seems unlikely the extra benefit will continue. To put it mildly the Black community is suffering both physically and economically from this recession, and will suffer even more if the $600 benefit is eliminated. Of the 19 million people who will receive regular unemployment benefits in July, 53% are women and 47% are people of color. Getting rid of this could further impact the racial wealth divide as Black unemployment surges.
Why This Matters: It was only a year ago that Black unemployment was the smallest on record, as the Black jobless rate hit a historic low of 5.4%. However, in May 2020, African-American unemployment reached the highest level in more than a decade. Despite signs that the U.S. economy is rebounding from the sharpest slowdown since World War II.
The spending generated by that $600 is supporting over 5 million jobs
Furthermore, the unemployment rate for Black men is now at its highest point in this recession, rising last month to 16.3% in June. Many scholars argue that extra $600 monthly unemployment funding has helped stabilize many minority households.
Situational Awareness: Unemployment recipients aren’t the only ones that would suffer if the $600 benefit is eliminated. The spending generated by that $600 is supporting over 5 million jobs. If the benefit is eliminated, it could cost the economy all of the aforementioned jobs, a trend it would most likely not be able to withstand.
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