Hispanics almost twice as likely as whites to have lost jobs amid shutdowns: poll

Hispanic Americans were almost twice as likely as whites to have lost a job due to layoffs or furloughs during shutdowns sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll.

The Washington Post-Ipsos poll released Thursday found that about 11 percent of respondents who said that they had been laid off or furloughed were white. By comparison, 20 percent were Hispanic, and 16 percent were black.

The disparity reflects the overall makeup of Americans working in industries such as food service, retail and other sectors that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, pollsters noted, which has forced state governments around the U.S. to temporarily shutter nonessential businesses and place restrictions on sectors that remain open.

The survey comes on the heels of a report from ADP, which found that the U.S. economy shed more than 20 million jobs just during the month of April — more than were lost during the entire Great Recession of 2008. The Labor Department will release May unemployment data on Friday.

“The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession,” said a researcher at ADP, Ahu Yildirmaz.

Millions of Americans have filed for unemployment benefits amid the outbreak and economists have warned that many businesses in the retail and food sectors may be unable to reopen without financial support.

Many companies are still slashing jobs even as economies around the U.S. begin to reopen. Uber just announced Wednesday that it would lay off around 3,700 employees despite continuing to offer Uber Eats delivery services during the outbreak.