For the First Time, Most New Working-Age Hires in the U.S. Are People of Color

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The surge of minority women getting jobs has helped push the U.S. workforce across a historic threshold. For the first time, most new hires of prime working age (25 to 54) are people of color, according to a Washington Post analysis of data the Labor Department began collecting in the 1970s. Minority hires overtook white hires last year.

Women are predominantly driving this trend, which is so powerful that even many women who weren’t thinking about working — because they were in school, caring for kids or at home for other reasons — are being lured into employment, according to The Post’s analysis.

Minority women began to pour into the labor market in 2015, and they have begun to reshape the demographics of the U.S. workforce, especially because many white baby boomers have been retiring. There are 5.2 million more people in the United States with jobs than at the end of 2016, and 4.5 million of them are minorities, according to The Post’s analysis of Labor Department data.

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President Trump frequently celebrates the recent record lows in the Hispanic and African American unemployment rates, one of his favorite talking points as he makes the economy a central argument for reelection.

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Politicians and top policymakers, including at the Federal Reserve, say it’s critical to keep this economic expansion going so more Americans can get jobs — and build financial security. And it’s especially critical for many minority families, who usually earn less and have far less wealth than whites.

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Economists say the minority hiring boom is explained mainly by a tight labor market that is forcing employers to look beyond their normal pool of candidates. But interviews with more than 30 new hires, their managers and caseworkers who help people find jobs suggest other forces, such as cultural attitudes and educational attainment, are pushing up the supply of minority women in the work world.

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Villagran-Glover and other experts say more women are also getting jobs because families need two incomes to pay rent and other bills. Minority women over age 45 have been some of the biggest job gainers now that their children are older.

Deportation efforts by the Obama and Trump administrations may also be a factor causing more women to seek employment. More than 90 percent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests are of men, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

“We see women entering the workforce because their husbands may no longer be in the country,” said Samantha Sherman, chief program officer at Wesley Community Center in Houston, which offers employment coaching.

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Job postings containing terms such as “fluent in Spanish,” “Spanish required” or “Spanish preferred” have nearly doubled since 2017, according to the job site Indeed.

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More than any other population, Latinos made huge strides to further their education when jobs were scarce after the Great Recession, making them more attractive to employers.

About 72 percent of Hispanic Americans over age 25 have high school diplomas, up from 59 percent in 2006, according to the Education Department. And college enrollment among Hispanics has tripled since 1996.

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