Job losses increased for Asian Americans

Asian Americans saw some of the biggest job losses in January’s employment report, which showed a tepid recovery among all categories of workers.

The Asian American unemployment rate rose to 6.6 percent last month, compared with a 6.3 percent jobless rate for all workers, the Labor Department said Friday. The data was surprising because Asian workers saw a significant improvement in employment in December.

This group has been jobless for longer. Nearly half of unemployed Asian Americans had been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer in the fourth quarter of 2020, a bigger share than white, Black or Hispanic Americans.

Much of this has been because of economic and geographic reasons. Many Asian workers work in industries particularly vulnerable to business closures, and almost one-third of Asian Americans live in California, one of the states hit hardest by pandemic restrictions.