The novel coronavirus has already dealt an unprecedented economic blow to a large portion of American workers, with a record 9.9 million people filing for unemployment over a two-week span from March 16 to 29.
The full scope of the damage remains unclear, but researchers and labor force leaders say the financial pain caused by the crisis probably won’t be evenly distributed along racial lines.
The economic fallout from business closings and job losses is expected to have a greater impact on Black and Latino employees, who make up a disproportionate percentage of occupational sectors experiencing the income disruption amid the pandemic.
“When white America catches a cold, Black America catches pneumonia,” Steven Brown, a research associate at the Urban Institute domestic policy research organization, told CNN Business.
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