Jobs Lost, Jobs Regained: An Analysis of Black/White Differences in Job Displacement in the 1980s

Abstract

Over the period 1982 to 1991, black men were considerably more likely to experience job displacement than were white men, and following displacement, the likelihood of reemployment was substantially lower for black men. Using data from the 1984 to 1992 Displaced Worker Surveys, we find that black men experienced rates of job displacement that were 30 percent higher, and reemployment rates that were 30 percent lower, than the corresponding rates for white men. We find that racial differences in education levels and occupational distributions explain part of these racial gaps in job displacement and reemployment, whereas racial differences in industry distributions worked to narrow these gaps.