The labor market recovered remarkably quickly from the recession in early 2020. This rapid recovery has had greater importance for Black, Latino and many Asian workers than for white workers as they rely more on income from work—wages, salaries and self-employment income—as opposed to income from capitol like dividends and interest.
Jobs returned at a rapid pace and many workers saw substantial wage gains, too. Workers of color and white workers benefited from the recovery at comparatively equal rates, unlike, for instance, after the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009, when many workers of color saw labor market gains much later than was the case for white workers. The fact that all workers equally shared in the labor market recovery this time around is particularly good news for many workers of color since they rely on earnings from work to a larger degree than is the case for white workers.
Median Wages by Race and Ethnicity
The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2021 provides a glimpse of the importance of earnings – wages and salaries — for a wide variety of population groups. Importantly, earnings are highly unequally distributed with most groups of workers of color receiving much lower pay than white workers.
