Public opinion, racial bias and labour market outcomes in the USA

Here we study the role of negative shifts in public opinion in the economic lives of under-represented racial groups by investigating sudden changes in views towards Asian people following the anti-Chinese rhetoric that emerged with the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated changes in employment status and earnings in the US labour market. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we find that, unlike other under-represented groups, Asian workers in occupations or industries with a higher likelihood of face-to-face interactions before the pandemic were more likely to become unemployed afterwards. While widespread along the political spectrum, negative shifts in the perceived favourability of Asian people, and not of other under-represented groups, were much stronger among those who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and could have been more influenced by the anti-Asian rhetoric. Majlesi et al. show that Asian workers in occupations with a higher likelihood of face-to-face interactions were more likely to become unemployed after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic due to shifts in public opinion. People who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 had more negative shifts in perceived favourability of Asians.