Nearly Half Of Black Men Found Jobless

[CShine]

It is well known that the unemployment rate in New York City rose sharply during the recent recession. It is also understood that the increase was worse for men than for women, and especially bad for black men. But a new study examining trends in joblessness in the city since 2000 suggests that by 2003, nearly one of every two black men between 16 and 64 was not working.

The study, by the Community Service Society, a nonprofit group that serves the poor, is based on data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and focuses on the so-called employment-population ratio - the fraction of the working-age population with a paid job - in addition to the more familiar unemployment rate, the percentage of the labor force actively looking for work.

Mark Levitan, the report's author, found that just 51.8 percent of black men ages 16 to 64 held jobs in New York City in 2003. The rate for white men was 75.7 percent; for Hispanic men, 65.7; and for black women, 57.1. The employment-population ratio for black men was the lowest for the period Mr. Levitan has studied, which goes back to 1979.

"We're left with a very big question,'' Mr. Levitan, a senior policy analyst with the society, said in an interview. "As the economy recovers, will we see a rise in employment among black men in tandem with the rise in employment of city residents generally? In other words, is this fundamentally a cyclical problem or is it more deeply structural? I fear that it is more deeply structural."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/28/nyregion/28employ.html

[proud patriot]

1. This infuriates me

:grr:

[JoFerret]

20. Kerry mentioned this

in today's debate.

[Lindacooks]

2. That is unbelievably bad

and bodes very badly for our future as a country.

[depakid]

3. "the magnitude is so large... it looks like a data problem"

That was my first thought too. I'm still finding it incredulous. I hope some DU'ers in NYC weigh in with their observations-

Obviously, there's a structural problem and even a third of these numbers would still be appalling, but 48.2% unemployed in 2003?

[eridani]

9. 'Unemployed' not the same as not working

The former is a fudged number dependent on guessing how many people are officially not looking for work. The other is a workforce survey including retirees, prisoners, people who have quit looking, etc.

[depakid]

11. I am aware of the difference

Which makes the numbers reported all that much more incredulous.

[Jackpine Radical]

17. Uh, Dep...about word usage...

a pedantic quibble...
YOU are incredulous. The numbers are incredible.

[depakid]

24. Douk!

thanks-:dunce:

[JoFerret]

4. Sorry - no time for this

We have to focus on Howard Stern and Mel Gibson.
Furthermore - all the Homeland Security money must be spent on white males and rural areas.

[UpInArms]

5. kick

:kick:

[Beetwasher]

6. Holy Crap!

That's fucking incredible, I had no idea...Wow, just Wow...

[rfkrocks]

7. get with the program people

this president is a uniter not a divider. Don't you watch fox news and listen to talk radio?

[Crachet2004]

8. This is what I'm talking about...

The "official" rate is 5.6 percent! Yeah right! We need more studies like this for our candidates. These numbers are so unreal, they would HAVE to be a campaign issue!

You know numbers that high don't just point to a recession, they point to a depression.

And I can't prove it, but I'll bet they are lying just as bad about inflation! And all those 'Rosy Growth Rates'? Lies, all lies.

I wish I was educated in how to generate real numbers for all these areas, because I can see the results would be explosive!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

12. Yeah... no inflation... yet Gasoline prices have doubled in a year

Grocery prices are up at least 30% in the past 6 months
Ditto housing costs
Interest rates are in the toilet, even for longer-term CD's
Clothing costs remain higher than they were.

But, nope... no inflation... none at all.

[Crachet2004]

15. They think we are stupid, or they wouldn't even try to run...

such obviously false numbers past us! And what aggravates me, is where are our competing calculations? Are we going to continue a supposedly adversarial relationship with the GOP, using only the numbers the established interests give us? What's up with that?

Anytime fuel rates double, inflation HAS to be accelerating! Fuel prices are a large component of every cost in this country!

All we have is anecdotal information, such as you and I have indicated, and it doesn't have the aura of respectability that 'official' statistics have...even though every damn one of us knows what we are being told is nothing but lies! Every time you drive to the store to buy a loaf of bread, you can't help noticing half a dozen times how prices are rising! They cannot keep this charade up forever!

IMO, If the GOP wins this next election, America is going to wake up on Jan. 1, 2005, and suddenly be in an economic crisis such as we have not seen in two generations. They will gut Social Security and every other program that protects the public from their depredations. Alan Greenspan has already let in a little daylight, I hope the Democrat Party slams the door wide open!

[eridani]

10. Structural, and here's why

Add to the following the fact that the War on Some Drugs means black men are far more likely to have jail records.

http://www.lieffcabraser.com/practice_employment_articles.htm

Two young high-school graduates with similar job histories and demeanors apply in person for jobs as waiters, warehousemen or other law-skilled positions advertised in a Milwaukee newspaper. One man is white and admits to having served 18 months in prison for possession of cocaine with intent to sell. The other black and hasn't any criminal record.

Which man is more likely to get called back?

It is surprisingly close. In a carefully crafted experiment in which college students posing as job applicants visited 350 employers, the white ex-con was called back 17% of the time and crime-free black applicant 14%. The disadvantage carried by a young black man applying for a job as a dishwasher or a driver is equivalent to forcing a white man to carry an 18-month prison record on his back.

[Barkley]

18. Thanks for this information and link!

I teach a college course "African American Economics"
and I will use this information in my class when we
discuss discrimination in the labor market.

This article challenges the long-held notion that
market competition eliminates racial discrimination and
that different employment rate reflect differences in
'human capital' (i.e. education).

There is a similar 'structural' racism prevalent
in the mortgate lending market where marginal black
and Hispanic applicants are held to a higher quantitative
standards on credit histories and debt obligations than
marginal white applicants.
"The cultural affinity hypothesis and mortgage lending decisions"
(Hunter and Walker, 1995)

Racial discrimination persist in the labor and mortgage markets
despite being illegal.

This gives me another reason to vote for Al Sharpton on Tues.

Thanks again!

[Chicago Democrat]

13. One Half of All persons in Jail

are black and male.

USA - A large penal colony ruled by racist neo fascist oligarchs.

[Barkley]

14. United We Stand?

United my ass!

[morgan2]

16. seems a bit of an odd age group

16 to 64? How many people at age 16 have a full time job?

[salin]

21. I am sure that 2 years of that 48 year span

grossly change the findings {/sarcasm}

[starroute]

19. And this is where the Republicans plan to hold a convention?

For some reason, I'm starting to get perfect storm vibes about next summer in New York . . .

[salin]

22. but... we don't need ANY form of affirmative action

because there are no problems and all people have equal opportunity... right? Even though a recent study in Illinois showed that individuals with "black sounding names" and no racial identifying information were called for interviews at a lower rate than equally qualified candidates with more anglo sounding names. Even though almost annually there are studies that demonstrate that redlining in lending and homeownership persists (giving higher - often almost so high to make unattainable - rates for qualification and then for lending rates regarding mortages, and practices that in housing are disproportionately slanted against non-whites.)

The only thing that (sadly) surprises me... is how many people are suprised by this - or try to find weak ways to give an alternative explanation (that might slightly change the numbers - but not in a significant way that would change the overall story.)

[Name removed]

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