Blacks fare worse in unemployment numbers

Black Voice News

UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education recently released its series of monthly reports highlighting the employment outlook in the black community, with blacks faring far worse than any other social group.

In the report, researchers Steven Pitts, Sylvia Allegretto and Ary Amerikaner marked what they claim are often ignored employment statistics affecting blacks. Their goal is to bring attention to job trends affecting African-Americans.

Arlene Holt Baker, vice president of the AFL-CIO, said the new report is a welcome resource.

“Given the extent of the job crisis facing the black community, the new report from the UC Center for Labor Research and Education could not be more important or timely,” Holt said.

“The economic crisis has created an enormous hole in the American labor market, with a particularly devastating impact on black workers, our families and communities. We are deeply grateful to the authors for their timely and thorough analysis.”

Blacks represent almost 14 percent of the nation’s population of approximately 309 million and comprise its largest racial minority. In terms of feeling the recession’s workplace wallop, blacks rank an unenviable first place there as well.

In May, the jobless rate for African-Americans between the ages of 16 and 65 hit a staggering 15.5 percent, while Latinos registered an unemployment rate of 12.4.

Meanwhile, whites’ unemployment stood at 8.8 percent, and the national average came in at 9.7 percent.

Black men of all ages experienced a jobless rate of 18.7 percent in April, with black teens ages 16 to 19 recording a breathtaking rate of 38 percent unemployment.

The center’s monthly jobs report is part of the Black Worker Project at the Labor Center and is produced with support from the Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement.

UC Berkeley’s Kathleen Maclay contributed to this report.

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