By J. K. Schmid, Special to the AFRO

Black Baltimoreans remain dramatically behind Baltimore Whites across several key employment sectors, a new study reveals.

The study, commissioned by Associated Black Charities (ABC), penetrated into traditionally generalized employment figures to determine just what jobs Black were working compared to Whites.

While Blacks could be considered to be working in service industries or real estate and finance; this study breaks down just what kind of jobs Blacks are doing compared to Whites in specific subfields.

(AP Photo)

The full study will be published on ABC’s website by the end of the week, the organization says. But the preview is grim.

Despite Baltimore being a majority minority city, there are few professions where Blacks predominate. This is borne out of other research that already reveals that a national Black unemployment rate-often touted as the highest in US history-remains double the national White unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Baltimore’s Black unemployment rate is three times the White unemployment rate, according to Prosperity Now research.

The structural forces behind issues like why a third of Black Baltimore has zero net worth and a median income just over half of Whites now become more clear.

Blacks dominate almost entirely in service and service-adjacent fields. Blacks outnumber Whites at almost two-to-one in the “healthcare and social assistance fields.” Similarly, Blacks outnumber Whites very nearly two-to-one in “administrative and support and waste management” fields.

The above fields are distinguished from others by their conspicuous lack of opportunities for advancement, comparatively low wages and demanding workload.

Meanwhile, in positions such as “finance and insurance,” Whites outnumber Black three-to-two. Well in excess of two-to-one, approaching seven-to-three, Whites dominate in “professional, scientific and technical services.”

These gross disparities are not just in the white-collar trades. Of even greater magnitude, Whites outnumber Blacks in construction at a rate of 10-to-three.

The full report will be released at abc-md.org.