Abstract: | This article analyzes the effects of changes in flows into and out of unemployment on the growing gap between black and white
unemployment rates in the 1970s and 1980s. Current Population Survey data show that black workers’ unemployment inflows increased,
suggesting that job instability increased. Declining employment opportunities were also implicated, as black workers left
unemployment for a job less often in 1987 than in 1971. White women’s situation improved considerably, with lower inflows
and higher employment probabilities. Although the effects of declining federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) pressure
cannot be detected, these findings are consistent with increasing racial discrimination. |