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Report Shows Black Georgians were more Likely to be Denied Unemployment Benefits

fox4kc.com

According to a report published today by Bloomberg News, Black Georgians who lost their jobs during the pandemic were more likely than White ones to be denied unemployment benefits.

In the year following the beginning of the pandemic, 2.25 million people applied for unemployment benefits in Georgia.

But the Georgia Department of Labor ruled that 800,000 of these were invalid, based on standards that require people work for employers participating in the unemployment system and that individuals make enough money to file claims.

Bloomberg reports that among Georgia workers denied regular state unemployment, 53% were Black and 24% were White. These rates reflect structural inequities across the South and U.S. as a whole, where Black Americans hold less secure and lower paying jobs than White Americans.