Virginia is seeing massive amount of unemployment, and massive amount of claims for unemployment insurance. But, some groups are being hit harder than others.
The coronavirus health crisis is hitting Virginians of color at a disproportionate rate, according to numbers from the Virginia Department of Health. And now numbers from the Virginia Employment Commission show the economic crisis is also hitting Virginians of color hardest.
Laura Goren at the Commonwealth Institute says these communities are more vulnerable to job losses.
“We think this is because black and Asian American workers in Virginia are more likely to have jobs where they need to actually physically show up for work rather than being able to work from home," Goren explains. "And therefore they are unable to keep those jobs during times such as this when it’s not safe to physically show up for work.”
She says one of the policy solutions should be strengthening Virginia’s unemployment compensation system so it can step in when federal improvements expire.
But Stephen Haner at the Thomas Jefferson Institute says it may be too early to talk about that right now.
“The unemployment process is intended to be a short-term safety net, and it usually works just fine as a short-term safety net in an economy where people can find jobs," he says. "Once we turn the corner and things start growing again, I think hiring will pick up pretty substantially.”
For now, some of the highest rates of unemployment claims have been outside major metropolitan areas. Bath County, for example, has seen 22% of its labor force file for unemployment insurance.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
