Blacks who work in science, technology, engineering and math fields are more likely than STEM workers from other racial or ethnic backgrounds to say they have faced discrimination on the job. They also stand out in their views about workplace diversity, according to a new Pew Research Center report. Roughly six-in-ten black STEM workers (62%) … Continue reading
College-educated families usually earn significantly higher incomes and accumulate more wealth than families headed by someone who does not have a four-year college degree. The income- and wealth-boosting effects of education apply within all racial and ethnic groups. Higher education may also help “protect” wealth, buffering families against major economic and financial shocks and mitigating … Continue reading
The so-called recovery of the US economy has not been equally kind to everyone. Even as the unemployment rate has remained steady at 6.3% last month, the unemployment rate for African Americans, coming in at 11.5%, is currently more than twice as high as that for white Americans. Last month, the difference was even larger … Continue reading
Despite overwhelming evidence that the racial wealth gap persists in the U.S., it remains a taboo topic in mainstream policy circles and most officials studiously avoid offering targeted solutions to help close this gap. However, this issue is ignored at our nation’s peril given the anticipated growth of racial and ethnic groups over the next … Continue reading
Relative to whites, a higher share of jobless blacks have continued to seek work—which means they have remained in the labor force and therefore been counted as unemployed. This is reflected in the fact that the percentage of blacks in the labor force (employed or actively seeking work) has fallen by less than the comparable … Continue reading
“The black unemployment rate is typically twice that of the white unemployment rate — in good times and even in bad times,” says William Rodgers, chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University Continue reading
Black Americans are significantly less likely now than they were 20 years ago to cite discrimination as the main reason blacks on average have worse jobs, income, and housing than whites Continue reading
The wealth gap between blacks and whites has nearly tripled over the past 25 years, due largely to inequality in home ownership, income, education and inheritances, according to a new study by Brandeis University. That type of inequality can be a drag on economic growth for everyone, said Thomas Shapiro, director of the university’s Institute … Continue reading
U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate held steady at 7.8%. However, the jobs outlook for young people especially young black teens is bleak. According to Generation Opportunity, which charts unemployment for Millennials aged 18-29, the general jobless rate for teens is 11.5 percent and a shocking 22.1 percent for younger … Continue reading
The Chicago Board of Education targeted teachers in black neighborhoods for layoffs in 2011, firing African-American teachers at a higher rate than white coworkers, the teacher’s union claims in a class action. Chicago Teachers Union Local 1; the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, and three teachers sued the Board of Education of the City of … Continue reading
The recession has not affected all Americans equally. While overall unemployment hovers around 8 percent, the reality was much different depending on your racial and ethnic background. African-Americans had an unemployment rate of 14.1 percent, nearly double the rate of whites at 7.2 percent. Hispanics had the second highest unemployment rate at 10.2 percent. And … Continue reading
The black unemployment rate stands currently at 14.4%. Blacks usually bare the burden of any increase in unemployment, as they are usually the first laid off as the economy sours and turns downward and are the last recalled as the economy turns upward. This to some extent is reflected in the current unemployment rate figures … Continue reading
As the overall U.S. unemployment rate stayed at 8.2% in June, the rate among black Americans rose nearly a full percentage point. The reason for the increase appears to have been a rise in the percentage of African-Americans looking for a job, rather than job losses. The unemployment rate for blacks rose to 14.4% from … Continue reading
In 2011, the nationwide African American unemployment rate stood at 15.9 percent—and in several of the country’s large metropolitan areas, the black unemployment rate was significantly higher. This issue brief examines African American unemployment rates of the 19 metropolitan areas for which we could derive reliable estimates.1 The key findings of this brief are: In … Continue reading
The crisis of African American unemployment requires federal intervention writes Economic Policy Institute. Even when the national economy is good, however, conditions for African Americans are typically bad. Federal intervention to aid African American community development is necessary for the following reasons: African Americans still reside mainly in separate and unequal communities. In 2010, in the … Continue reading