According to Nathan Marwell, a PhD student in Economics for the University of Wisconsin, wage disparities between African-Americans and Caucasian-Americans saw an improvement throughout the 1960s. Black men earned only 58% of white men's wages in 1960, but earned 72% by 1970. However, this percentage had remained constant until the year 2000, when black males improved to making 80% of their white counterparts.
Years of greater economic opportunity after affirmative action had led to the growth of African-American incomes, which has significantly progressed more than other groups. “The raw numbers from last year's [2001] census show that blacks have made considerable economic and educational progress during the 1990s. Black median household income grew 15 percent between 1989 and 1999, compared with 6 percent for white families; and the number of black-owned firms increased 26 percent from 1992 to 1997, compared with a 7 percent increase for U.S. firms overall …show more content…
Employment disparities between whites and blacks have not seen a significant change. Unemployment rates among African-Americans have continued to be higher than other ethnics groups. According to Tami Luhby, a senior writer for CNNMoney, as of October 2015, unemployment rates for African-Americans are over double that of their white counterparts, reaching 9.2 percent compared to 4.4 percent for whites. Luhby also found that it takes African-Americans, on average, five more weeks to find a job after being employed than whites. While federal laws prohibit discrimination during the employment process, it does not prevent employers from being biased against, or for, an ethnic