Unemployment

About half of U.S. adults who are currently unemployed and are looking for a job are pessimistic about their prospects for future employment.

The share of unpartnered mothers who are employed and at work has fallen more precipitously than among other parents.

The shares of mothers and fathers who are working have fallen from 2019 to 2020, but the falloff has been comparable for each group.

Half of adults who say they lost a job due to the coronavirus outbreak are still unemployed.

Across 34 countries, a median of 65% said in 2019 they felt pessimistic about reducing the gap between the rich and poor in their country.

As the nation’s economy contracted at a record rate in recent months, the group’s unemployment rate rose sharply, particularly among Hispanic women, and remains higher among Hispanic workers than U.S. workers overall.

Between February and June 2020, the share of young adults who are neither enrolled in school nor employed has more than doubled.

Compared with 2000, suburban populations are less engaged in the labor market, experiencing declining incomes and seeing home values that have not kept pace with those of the central cities.

The official U.S. unemployment rate understated the situation for women, Asian Americans, immigrants and workers without a bachelor’s degree.

The experiences of several groups of workers in the COVID-19 outbreak vary notably from how they experienced the Great Recession.