WASHINGTON, Nov 27 Reuters Economists who have studied employment during the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic agree that Black, Hispanic, and lesseducated workers saw outsized gains relative to whites or college degree holders whose fortunes typically outpace others.

But as the demand for workers begins to ease, they are also hoping the U.S. may break the historic pattern where the burden of rising joblessness falls most heavily on those same groups.

After an initial halfpercentagepoint rise in the unemployment rate from the historically low 3.4 in April, there is reason for optimism, but also a dose of developing concern, said William M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the St. Louis Federal Reserve.

So far, he said at a Boston Fed labor market conference earlier this month, measures like the employmenttopopulation ratio largely have not behaved differently for key racial groups, for women versus men, or among those with different education levels. Through what he calls the current tight labor market recovery period, beginning in March 2022 and coinciding with both the start of Fed interest rate increases and a run of below4 unemployment, less advantaged groups have held onto employment gains made during the pandemic recovery.

The employmenttopopulation ratios for Black men and Black women, for example, remained on average higher from March 2022 through September 2023 than they were before the health crisis. The…