Published 07:33 IST, June 6th 2020
United State report on unemployment rate drop leaves out African Americans, Asians
US President Donald Trump recently championed a job report which shows unemployment rates are down but that may not be the case for all communities.
- World News
- 2 min read
US President Donald Trump recently championed a job report that showed that the unemployment rate in America had dropped in the month of May. This comes after initial projections pegged the unemployment rate at 20% but data showed a start drop to 13.3% in May from 14.7% in April as businesses began to reopen and hire back workers after the lockdown phase.
However, that report states that while the overall unemployment rate has gone down, the benefit is not being reaped by everyone. African-American and Asian communities in the United States have actually seen unemployment rates go up slightly, exposing racial divides in the country yet again.
Not all benefit equally
According to reports, the month of May saw an employment gain of 2.5 million jobs as restaurants, bars and other businesses began to reopen and hire back workers let go during the lockdown. Sectors such as construction, healthcare and retail also reportedly added jobs back.
While this may be somewhat good news and signals that the worse of the crisis is over, unemployment among African-Americans rose from 16.7% to 16.8% in May and while for Asian communities that mark went from 14.5% to 15%, as per reports. Experts has said the statistics show that after a period of crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic, the employment for black and Asian communities normalises at a much slower rate.
Biden calls out Trump
Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has recently called out US President Donald Trump for what he believes to be a premature celebration after the recent job report. Trump reportedly took a victory lap after the government reported surprising job gains for last month. According to reports, Joe Biden has claimed that despite the recent positive job reports, the US economy still needs a lot of work and rebuilding as the country looks to re-open after the coronavirus pandemic.
As per reports, Biden also claimed that the job reports were merely the first sign of recovery from a recession caused by the coronavirus lockdown. While speaking at Delaware State University, a historically black university in Dover, Biden claimed that a lot of work still needs to be done and there are many Americans who are still suffering.
Updated 07:33 IST, June 6th 2020