On (Not) Closing the Gaps: The Evolution of National and Regional Unemployment Rates by Race and Ethnicity

This paper conducts stationarity tests for levels and ratios of national and regional unemployment rates by race and ethnicity. Results indicate that both unemployment rates and ratios for the total population and for subgroups by race, ethnicity and region are stationary around changing means. The black/white unemployment ratio has increased on average and the Hispanic/white unemployment ratio has decreased on average. Results are compared across regions of the US.