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Rising Unemployment Hits Minorities Hard, Could Affect Health Care Coverage Too

April 8, 2009 - Posted by Antoine Morris

Bar graph showing the correlation between rising unemployment and an increase in the number of uninsured Americans

Source: John Holahan and Bowen Garrett, Rising Unemployment, Medicaid, and the Uninsured, prepared for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 2009.

With unemployment rates for racial minorities exceeding the national average, minorities continue to be disproportionately affected by the economic downturn and overrepresented among the people who lack health insurance.  

In March, the White unemployment rate was 7.9 percent compared to 11.4 percent for Latinos and 13.3 percent for African Americans.

Overall, the nation's unemployment rate reached a 26-year high, up from 12.5 million in February (8.1 percent) to 13.2 million in March (8.5 percent), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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