U. S. WOMEN, HISP ANIC WORKERS FACE BLEAK START TO 2021 FOR JOBS

Women and workers of colour continue to bear the brunt of job losses as the coronavirus rages across the U. S. Unemployment for women and Hispanic workers rose in December for the first time in eight months, eroding recent improvement and capping a devastating year for these groups, Labor Department data showed Friday. The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers rose to 9.3 per cent while female joblessness climbed to 6.7 per cent. The pandemic has erased years of economic progress for women and Black and Hispanic workers. “The winter is going to be pretty tough for those workers,” said Julia Coronado, founder of research firm Macropolicy Perspectives LLC. The total number of women on payrolls shrank for the first time since April, dropping to 70.9 million from 71 million in November.