Black male unemployment highest since WWII

BY CHARLENE MUHAMMAD SPECIAL TO THE NNPA FROM THE FINAL CALL

A recent study indicates that of the major ethnic groups impacted by unemployment during the current U.S. recession, Black men have experienced the greatest job losses since the crisis officially began in November 2007.

"What's missing from national media coverage of this recession is plainly a great deal of [honesty] about who's losing their jobs. This is overwhelmingly a blue-collar, retail sales, low-level recession," said Andrew Sum, professor of economics and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., which published the study.
"The Impacts of the 2007-2009 National Recession on Male Employment in the U.S. through January 2009; The Massive Concentration of Job Losses Among Males Especially Black Men and Blue Collar Workers" tracked employment losses in the recession across gender groups of workers overall, and in the four major ethnicities— Asian, Black, Hispanic and White. Thestudy found that:

• Males are 80 percent (3.1 million) of all people who have lost their jobs in America;
• Black male unemployment rose by 6.4 percent. Between 2007 and January 2009, 482,000 Black men lost their jobs;
• The unemployment gap between Black men and women is historically unprecedented, with

Blacks the only group where the gap favors women. This gap stems from differences in job types and fields, such as health care, education, social services - and wellpaying jobs, which are saturated with women.

If you are a Black man working in trucking, manufacturing, construction or warehousing, you are getting clobbered, the document's lead author said. Through Febru- ary 2009, Black men who were employed a month before the recession started have lost their jobs at a rate five times greater than everybody combined.

"Here we are as a country that was priding itself on the fact that it elected a Black American president of the United States, and rightfully so. At the same time, this is the greatest recession loss of jobs by Black men since the end of World War II. Thishas never happened before, yet nobody on national TV has stood up and said this recession has been catastrophic for Black men," Sum said.

Entrepreneurship is way out

"This means we're in trouble," said Lavar Young, director of the Newark (N.J.) Comprehensive Center for Fathers, which helps men transition who have lost their jobs, homes, or are re-entering the work force after incarceration. Known as the Fatherhood Center, it provides mentoring, life skills, legal assistance, education and counseling classes.

According to Young, self-help and entrepreneurship is a sure route out of joblessness for Black men. "It's a low-cost investment and many times a high reward. In Newark, we have a thriving market when it comes to folks selling things, especially when stores are going up on their prices. We just encourage the men who attend our programs to turn their skills when they were out doing negative things into something positive," he told TheFinal Call.

For instance, he added, "One of our guys came to class selling socks for $4-$5 a pack. It won't ease all your pains and it's not a lot of money, but it will help you over that hump," at least through about six to eight months of training for a new skill.
Implications for stimulus

According to the study, the demographics of job loss in the U.S. have important implications for the design and implementation of the programs to be funded under the economic stimulus package and work force development policies at the national, state and local levels.

For Sum, one way to reduce joblessness is to try to get all of the stimulus money distributed as soon as possible to get people back to work, and specifically target projects toward infrastructure, manufacturing, transportation and training money for youth jobs.

In addition, the Obama administration, and recipients of stimulus funds must guarantee public postings of all job openings generated by federal stimulus dollars on web sites of one-stop centers.

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