How DEED uses data to create insights on economic inequality

DEED’s agency-wide goal in 2022 is to drive an economic comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic, focused on people and businesses who face systemic barriers to growth. In order to do that, we need to know who was most negatively impacted and how systemic barriers play a role in that negative impact.

There is plenty of data to show that Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Minnesotans bore the brunt of job and wage loss during the pandemic. But a deeper dive into the data reveals additional information about what factors – like occupation, industry, part-time vs. full-time work status, and educational attainment – influenced job loss, the ability to find new employment and, very critically, the ability to find new employment that paid as well or better than a person’s previous job.

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