Last week 5.2 million workers filed for unemployment in a single week (CNN), bringing the total number of filings near 22 million in the past four weeks. This was more than five times worse than the worst 4-week stretch of the Great Recession.

McKinsey released a new COVID-19 report that shows that Black workers are over-represented in the essential positions that have close contact with the public and low wages/few benefits—like nursing assistants, medical assistants, cooks & restaurant workers, and food preparation supervisors and servers. The Center for Economic and Policy Research and CNN also report that Black workers are overrepresented in grocery stores, convenience stores, drug stores, transportation, trucking, warehouses, the postal service, in health care, and at places like Amazon (26.5% of workers) and Walmart (21% of workers).

The McKinsey report also shows the impact of COVID-19 on Black communities will likely extend beyond high rates of mortality to high rates of unemployment and bankruptcy, as another 39% of Black workers are in jobs that are vulnerable to furloughs, layoffs, or being rendered unproductive during periods of high physical distancing (5 points higher than Whites and 7 points higher than Asian Americans). The Center for American Progress has a brief on occupational segregation with data showing that African Americans are overrepresented in many low-wage jobs vulnerable to layoffs during the pandemic, that Black households have less liquidity to respond to an emergency, and that Black workers are less likely to be able to telework (see also this Economic Policy Institute post estimating that only 19.7% of Black workers can telework).

A New York Times COVID-19 survey conducted between April 6-12 shows that of Black respondents, 49% have had their hours cut or income reduced due to the coronavirus (higher than other groups), and only 30% are able to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak (lower than any other group).

Civil rights activists, financial planners, others opine in The Atlanta Voice as to whether Black business owners will get their fair share of stimulus money.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) sent a letter to Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell urging him to “address concerns regarding the implementation of programs and facilities authorized by the CARES Act,” including provisions to support small business.