Racial disparities and business cycles: Do racial wage gaps close in tight labor markets?

Racial wage gaps continue to persist into the twenty-first century. Between 1999 and 2001, blacks earned only 66 percent of the annual income of whites, while Latinos and Native Americans earned a mere 58 percent. Similar trends exist for annual personal income. Blacks earned only 64 percent of whites’ personal income, and Native Americans and Hispanics earned even less-56 and 53 percent, respectively. Asians generally fared better, earning 93 percent of whites’ annual income and 102 percent of whites’ annual earnings.1