March employment increased by 431,000
Most employment is concentrated in a small number of counties
Black household wealth is 15 percent of White household wealth, partly due to lack of lack of participation in the stock market
2.5 million still out of work due to employer closing or cutting back due to Covid
Most voters think Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from cases related to 2020 election
**** The March employment numbers are out, showing that total employment increased by 431,000 during the month. The biggest numeric gains were in leisure and hospitality. However, that sector is still down by 1.5 million people since February, 2020.
**** There are more than 3,000 counties in the U.S. How many of them account for half of all employment in the county?
This study says than 50 percent of all employment is concentrated in just 112 counties. And 20 percent of employment is found in only 18 counties. Most employment is concentrated on the coasts. Because, duh, that’s where the people are.
**** The wealth held by Black households is only 15 percent of that held by White households. Some of that gap is due to the fact that Black households invest in the stock market much less than White households. While less than eight percent of Black households owned stock or mutual funds, 24 percent of White households did so.
Even after accounting for income differences the study found that the gap in stock market participation remained, and even grew worse at higher income levels.
The study’s authors don’t explain the differences, but they do mention the influence of peers (friends and family) on financial decision-making, which was a significant factor in another study quoted by the authors.
**** A bad news/good news story. The bad news is that 2.5 million people were unable to work in March because their employer closed or lost business due to Covid-19. The good news? That number is down from 4.2 million in February, and way down from the 49.8 million at the height of the pandemic.
One other point: the proportion of people who received pay even though they didn’t work is declining from the beginning of the year: in March this number was 15 percent, compared to 20 percent in February and 24 percent in January.
I might have guessed that this percentage was higher earlier in the pandemic, but as you can see from the chart below, January of this year marked the high point so far. If you have an explanation please put it in the comments.
**** A Morning consult poll found that, due to his wife Ginni’s activities, 53 percent of voters think Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election. That includes 76 percent of Democrats, 52 percent of Independents and 31 percent of Republicans.
That’s it for now. Take care, and thanks for reading.
Karl Pearson
