After being courted by Trump, African Americans face economic blow from Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Reuters | The financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak could fall particularly hard on African Americans, undoing economic gains U.S. President Donald Trump has touted in his outreach to those key voting blocs ahead of the November 3 election.

With job cuts hitting U.S. states as governors and companies order offices and workplaces closed, African Americans are particularly vulnerable because they more often have jobs that cannot be done at home.

“That will make them more severely impacted by an extended Coronavirus shutdown of the economy,” said Jay Shambaugh, a White House economist during Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration.

Labor Department data shows that just 19.7 percent of African Americans said they could work at home in 2017 and 2018, compared with 29.9 percent of whites.

The department’s most recent data on unemployment benefits showed a nationwide surge in new filings, with many states reporting layoffs in service industries like hotels and restaurants, according to the department’s March 19 report.

Those are industries where African Americans make up outsized shares of employment, including hotels where the group makes up nearly a quarter of the employees.

While African Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump over his handling of race relations, the Trump campaign has increased its outreach to this group in the hopes of picking off enough votes to win potentially razor-thin contests in electoral swing states.

African Americans will comprise about 13 percent of eligible voters in November, slightly more than in the 2016 election, according to the Pew Research Center. Their votes could be key in battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida that helped propel the Republican Trump to victory in 2016.

But the health crisis, which has now culminated in a full-blown economic crisis, has cost the campaign its No. 1 talking point – that a soaring economy and record-low unemployment rates for African Americans are reasons to vote for him.

Trump’s approval rating has edged higher in the past week among all Americans, including African Americans, suggesting it is possible he will earn some credit for his handling of the crisis.

Still, only 1 in 5 African Americans approve of the job he is doing as president, roughly the same level as when he took office, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted March 18-24.