Even a Brief Recession Would Be Dire for Minority and Low-Income Workers
Economists can’t say for certain whether a recession will, in fact, happen. But we know who will be hardest hit.
Over the last several weeks, anxiety has spiked over the possibility that the United States might soon enter another recession. GDP and employment growth have slowed recently, and a new revision of Bureau of Labor Statistics data suggests that job growth in recent months has been weaker than previously thought. Business investment in the United States has fallen dramatically, which economists attribute to an ongoing trade war that escalated again this morning. The yield curve on Treasury bonds recently inverted, which is viewed by many as a strong sign that a recession is coming. Adding to the uneasiness is weakness in the economies of China and Europe, and some troubling geopolitical issues.
Economists can’t actually say for certain if a recession will happen, and few think it’s a certainty, but most agree that the risk has increased in recent months.
Assuming we are in for a recession, certain sectors and certain types of workers will be more vulnerable than others. A recession that’s driven largely by a global economic slowdown will hit manufacturers that export a lot of products to…
