This article examines the unemployment experiences of workers in North Carolina involved in mass layoffs and plant closings, focusing on the differential impacts between black and white workers. The results of this research not only support earlier findings but also suggest that blacks are laid off in numbers disproportionate to their membership in the labor force. Several different explanations for this result are examined and attempts made to control for several of these factors, such as industry and occupational differences. However, even after controlling for such factors, evidence of differential treatment continues to persist.
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