Table 2.
Comparison of the Employment Impacts of the Pandemic and the Great Recession across Demographic Groups
| COVID Pandemic | Great Recession | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2020 | Relative emp change | Dec 2007 | Relative emp change | ||||
| Emp rate | April 2020 | Feb 2021 | June 2021 | Emp rate | Dec 2009 | Dec 2014 | |
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) | |
| Male | 0.65 | −0.16*** (0.00) |
−0.05*** (0.00) |
−0.07*** (0.00) |
0.70 | −0.09*** (0.01) |
−0.07*** (0.01) |
| Female | 0.54 | −0.20*** (0.00) |
−0.06*** (0.00) |
−0.07*** (0.01) |
0.57 | −0.04*** (0.01) |
−0.05*** (0.01) |
| No HS degree | 0.35 | −0.26*** (0.01) |
0.00 (0.01) |
−0.10*** (0.02) |
0.38 | −0.13*** (0.03) |
−0.08** (0.03) |
| HS graduate | 0.54 | −0.24*** (0.00) |
−0.09*** (0.00) |
−0.15*** (0.01) |
0.59 | −0.07*** (0.01) |
−0.09*** (0.01) |
| Some college | 0.60 | −0.22*** (0.00) |
−0.06*** (0.00) |
−0.06*** (0.01) |
0.68 | −0.08*** (0.01) |
−0.10*** (0.01) |
| College graduate | 0.71 | −0.11*** (0.01) |
−0.05*** (0.00) |
−0.06*** (0.01) |
0.77 | −0.05*** (0.01) |
−0.06*** (0.01) |
| Age 16–25 | 0.53 | −0.34*** (0.01) |
−0.07*** (0.01) |
−0.05*** (0.01) |
0.54 | −0.16*** (0.03) |
−0.11** (0.03) |
| 26–35 | 0.81 | −0.18*** (0.00) |
−0.06*** (0.00) |
−0.06*** (0.00) |
0.80 | −0.06*** (0.01) |
−0.02 (0.01) |
| 36–55 | 0.80 | −0.16*** (0.00) |
−0.04*** (0.00) |
−0.04*** (0.00) |
0.82 | −0.06*** (0.01) |
−0.03*** (0.01) |
| 56–85 | 0.38 | −0.20*** (0.00) |
−0.09*** (0.00) |
−0.08*** (0.00) |
0.37 | −0.01 (0.03) |
0.01 (0.03) |
| White | 0.59 | −0.16*** (0.00) |
−0.05*** (0.00) |
−0.06*** (0.00) |
0.64 | −0.06*** (0.01) |
−0.06*** (0.01) |
| Black | 0.57 | −0.18*** (0.01) |
−0.06*** (0.01) |
−0.10*** (0.01) |
0.57 | −0.11*** (0.01) |
−0.06*** (0.01) |
| Hispanic | 0.63 | −0.24*** (0.01) |
−0.07*** (0.01) |
−0.09*** (0.01) |
0.64 | −0.08** (0.02) |
−0.05* (0.02) |
| Other | 0.62 | −0.24*** (0.01) |
−0.04*** (0.01) |
−0.07*** (0.01) |
0.63 | −0.09** (0.03) |
−0.05 (0.03) |
Notes: The table lists estimated coefficients from Equation (1) for each demographic group, where the dependent variable is the percentage deviation in the employment to population ratio relative to the beginning of the recession (February 2020 for the pandemic period and December 2007 for the Great Recession). Regressions for the COVID pandemic period use data from January 2015 onward; regressions for the Great Recession period use data from 2003–2014. Estimates are adjusted for seasonality and year fixed effects. Robust standard errors are in parentheses.
*
p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.