09 November, 2013

The Workforce Is Even More Divided by Race Than You Think - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic

The Workforce Is Even More Divided by Race Than You Think - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic: The numbers reveal a workforce stratified, if not calcified, by race, with whites seeing higher wages and lower unemployment, while blacks and Hispanics constantly stuck behind them.

According to the BLS, whose data provides the backbone for this piece, the labor economy isn't merely stratified at the macro level. It's stratified at the job-by-job level. Different races and ethnicities cluster in different sectors.

Hispanics, for example, account for about 15 percent of all jobs, but a whopping 36 percent of all high school dropouts. They make up about half of all farm workers and laborers, 44 percent of grounds maintenance workers, and 43 percent of maids and house cleaners. Blacks, who make up just 11 percent of the workforce, account for more than a third of home health aides and about 25 percent of both security guards and bus drivers—rather low paying jobs.