As North Carolina’s economy continues to recover from the recession caused by the COVID pandemic, we have reviewed the data from the U.S. Census Bureau QWI Explorer to investigate how Black / African American employment and earnings have been affected between Q1 2019 and Q1 2021.
Data from this period reveals that that total employment in North Carolina decreased by 1.1%. Among the reported races in QWI, Black /African American employment was impacted the most with a decrease of 2.8% (about 29,480 jobs).
% Change in Total Employment, Q1 2019 to Q1 2021
Based on the Q1 2021 industry employment, Health Care and Social Assistance is the largest sector employing Black / African Americans in North Carolina, with more than 170,000 jobs. Three additional industries with more than 100,000 jobs filled by Black / African American workers include Retail Trade, Manufacturing, as well as Administrative and Support. The industries that employed the most Black / African American workers are Transportation and Warehousing (37.8%) and Administration and Support (34.2%).
Industry Employment by Black / African American Workers, Q1 2021
| Black / African American Employment |
% of Total Employment |
|
| Health Care & Social Assistance | 173,379 | 28.9% |
| Retail Trade | 127,913 | 24.3% |
| Manufacturing | 110,416 | 24.0% |
| Admin. & Support & Waste Mgmt. & Remediation Srvcs. | 103,708 | 34.2% |
| Accommodation & Food Services | 94,618 | 25.9% |
| Educational Services | 75,411 | 21.4% |
| Transportation & Warehousing | 67,903 | 37.8% |
| Public Administration | 53,734 | 24.5% |
| Finance & Insurance | 40,298 | 20.4% |
| Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services | 35,360 | 13.0% |
| Wholesale Trade | 29,078 | 15.9% |
| Construction | 21,991 | 9.6% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 18,625 | 16.8% |
| Management of Companies & Enterprises | 17,536 | 21.6% |
| Information | 14,053 | 19.5% |
| Real Estate and Rental & Leasing | 9,600 | 16.2% |
| Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation | 6,706 | 11.9% |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting | 3,767 | 15.9% |
| Utilities | 1,768 | 12.5% |
| Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction | 221 | 7.3% |
During the Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 period, Black / African American workers saw gains in employment in five industries – Transportation and Warehousing; Finance and Insurance; Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction; Professional, Scientific and Technical Services; and Wholesale Trade. Compared to other reported races in QWI, Black / African American workers experienced a greater employment increase in all these industries.
Industry with Employment Gains by Black / African American Workers
Q1 2019 to Q1 2021
Black /African American workers saw the largest percentage decreases in jobs in the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry – although, this accounted for a relatively small number of jobs lost (4,565). Two industries experienced Black / African American job losses greater than 10,000: Accommodations and Food Services lost 21,256 jobs (18.3% decrease) and Educational Services lost 10,680 jobs (12.4% decrease).
Industry with Largest % Decreases in Employment by Black / African American Workers
Q1 2019 to Q1 2021
Black / African American workers did not necessarily experience wage gains in the five industries with employment growth. Only two saw wage increases after adjusting for inflation: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (2.9%) and Finance and Insurance (0.6%). Transportation and Warehousing, the industry with the largest employment increase by Black / African American workers, received the most wage decline (-10.4%).
The industries with the largest percentage decrease in employment for the Black / African American population all experienced wage growth for the Black / African American workers. Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation had the highest wage gains (27.9%) while also suffering the biggest loss in jobs employed by Black / African American workers.
Industry Average Monthly Real Earnings for Black / African American Workers
Q1 2019 to Q1 2021
| Avg. Monthly Earnings Q1 2021 |
Avg. Monthly Earnings |
|
| Finance & Insurance | $6,537 | 0.6% |
| Utilities | $6,420 | -8.9% |
| Management of Companies & Enterprises | $5,654 | 5.0% |
| Information | $5,353 | 5.8% |
| Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services | $4,958 | 2.9% |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil & Gas Extraction | $4,855 | -4.9% |
| Wholesale Trade | $4,155 | -0.1% |
| Manufacturing | $3,989 | -1.6% |
| Public Administration | $3,941 | 9.4% |
| Construction | $3,534 | -1.7% |
| Educational Services | $3,471 | 2.1% |
| Real Estate and Rental & Leasing | $3,294 | 4.5% |
| Health Care & Social Assistance | $3,143 | 10.6% |
| Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation | $2,838 | 27.9% |
| Transportation & Warehousing | $2,793 | -10.4% |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting | $2,718 | -3.0% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | $2,604 | 6.4% |
| Admin. & Support & Waste Mgmt. and Remediation Srvcs. | $2,440 | 7.3% |
| Retail Trade | $2,249 | 3.7% |
| Accommodation & Food Services | $1,480 | 0.8% |
Note that at the time of publication of this article, QWI has released Q2 2021 data for employment but not for earnings.
