What Explains Black Employment Dynamics?

Abstract

This paper investigates the proximate causes of excessively cyclical employment growth and persistently high unemployment among Black workers, relative to White workers. Using data from the Quarterly Workforce Indicators and Job-to-Job Flows, we find that the concentration of Black workers in highly cyclical industries cannot account for the excess cyclicality; rather, Black employment tends to be more volatile regardless of industry. The high level and excessive cyclicality of unemployment among Blacks compared to Whites can be traced to lower job finding rates overall and higher and more cyclical separation rates in most industries.