Objective: To determine whether people of Color experienced disparate levels of employment loss in frontline versus non-frontline occupations during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results: More dramatic declines in the number employed occurred in the Black or African American, Asian American, and Hispanic or Latinx groups. When stratified by sector, greater declines were noted in the Hispanic or Latinx and Asian American frontline, and Black or African American non-frontline groups when compared to the referent groups.
Conclusions: Structural racism has further affected people of Color through differential employment loss during the onset of the pandemic, both overall and by sector. However, the effect of the sector varies dramatically across racial and ethnic groups.