The Upjohn Institute New Hires Quality Index was essentially unchanged between October and November, at $21.22, after falling for six consecutive months. Hiring volume fell 1.0 percent over the month to its lowest level in 13 years. Hiring rates, which adjust for population growth, are at a series low.
In this month’s news release, index creator Brad Hershbein examines recent hiring trends for selected racial and ethnic groups. White workers’ wage index dropped slightly since March, 0.5 percent, while Black workers' index fell 2.9 percent. Over the same period, Hispanic workers saw a slight gain of 0.3 percent.
Hiring rates have fallen for all three groups since the start of the pandemic, with Hispanic workers seeing smaller drops than other groups. White and Black workers have had drops of 7.1 and 6.2 percent, respectively, over the last 12 months, while Hispanic workers’ hiring rates rose 0.4 percent.
These trends have caused Hispanic workers’ share of the total earnings power among all new hires to rise from 19.1 percent to 21.2 percent over the last 12 months. Hispanic workers’ share has increased steadily over recent years, while Black workers’ share has remained between 12 and 13 percent.
Read the full analysis or explore the index.