Racial and gender differences in unemployment patterns in an urban labor market: The case of Detroit

As a historical account, the present study examines unemployment patterns, by race and gender, over the 1971-1986 period for an urban labor market wit h a predominantly black central city population-Detroit Metropolitan Statis tical Area (MSA). The patterns in the city of Detroit are also studied. Bla ck unemployment rates were found to be rather large, averaging over 20 perc ent for both gender groups. The racial unemployment gap, measured as the ra tio of black to white unemployment rates, averaged approximately 3 times an d 2 1/2 times, respectively, for men and women in the MSA and 2 times and 2 1/4 times in the city. This gap is further observed to have increased subs tantially over the period. In contrast, the study finds little or no evidence of a gender gap. The fem ale relative unemployment rate actually decreased over time for both racial groups. In addition, while unemployment rates for all four racial and gend er groups were countercyclical, the racial and gender gaps were both cyclic al. Thus, general macroeconomic policies could not be relied on to apprecia bly narrow the rather wide racial gap.