- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Sattwik Biswal
THE unemployment rate for black and minority ethnic (BAME) workers has risen three times as fast as for white workers, according to a Trades Union Congress (TUC) analysis of new ONS employment figures published on Tuesday (18).
The BAME unemployment rate shot up from 6.3 per cent to 8.9 per cent between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 41 per cent.
Over the same period the unemployment rate for white workers rose from 3.6 per cent to 4.1 per cent, an increase of 14 per cent, which means around one in 11 (8.9 per cent) BME workers are now unemployed, compared to one in 25 (4.1 per cent) of white workers.
The Union body has called on ministers to act now to tackle structural discrimination in the job market.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everyone deserves a decent and secure job. But Covid-19 has shone a light on the discrimination in our labour market.
“BME workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic. They’ve been more likely to work in industries like hospitality and retail that have been hit hard by unemployment.
“And when BAME workers have held on to their jobs, we know that they are more likely to be in low-paid, insecure work that has put them at greater risk from the virus. This structural discrimination has led to a disproportionate BME death rate from coronavirus.
“Now we are emerging from the pandemic, we can’t allow these inequalities. Ministers must hold down unemployment, create good new jobs and challenge the systematic discrimination that holds BAME workers back.”
