Black and Latino workers are more likely to lose their jobs in the 2nd wave of COVID-19 layoffs, study finds

• Black and Latino workers are disproportionately bearing the brunt of a second wave of COVID-19 layoffs, according to a study conducted by Cornell University, the US Private Sector Job Quality Index, and RIWI.
• Since being put back on payroll by a previous employer, 32% of Latino workers and 31% of Black workers have been laid off again, compared to 25% of white workers.
• In addition, 28% of Latino workers and 29% of Black workers have been told by their employers that they could be laid off again, compared to 23% of white workers.

Black and Latino workers are more likely to have lost a job or to be in danger of losing one in the second wave of coronavirus layoffs, according to a recent study.

Nearly one-third of all workers who returned to jobs following the first round of coronavirus layoffs have been fired again, according to a study from Cornell University, the US Private Sector Job Quality Index, and RIWI.

The same study found that those layoffs were more concentrated among workers who identify as Black and Latino.

Since being put back on payroll by a previous employer, 32% of Latino workers and 31% of Black workers have been laid off for a second time, the survey found. In comparison, only 25% of white workers in the same situation have lost their jobs again.

Black and Latino workers also have higher uncertainty about their employment going forward, the survey found — 28% of Latino workers and 29% of Black workers have been told by their employers that they could be laid off again. At the same time, only 23% of white workers have been warned that they may face another layoff.

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The survey's findings underscore previous data that show that the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated systemic inequality in the US. As the pandemic recession has continued, there are more signs of the inequality in the labor force — in July, the gap between white unemployment and Black unemployment reached its widest of the pandemic so far.

There's been a renewed debate about racial inequality amid the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the death in police custody of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, sparked further discussions about race and protests across the country.

In a speech in May, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell called the pandemic a "great increaser of inequality" and said it is "falling on those least able to bear its burdens." In early August, Democrats introduced a bill that would require the Fed to target and eliminate racial inequality in the US economy, the first mandate change for the central bank in 43 years.