Steven Wallace
Mrs. Elnora Farmer
Principles of Economics 1101
July 25, 2013

Unemployment Differences between Races/Nationalities

Introduction It seems to me that the only thing that is changing from day to day is unemployed workers and the fact of businesses and companies cutting jobs. These companies are cutting positions by lying off workers and some are simply closing the doors. As a result of this type of action, the unemployment rate is steadily climbing. I feel that unemployment is one of America’s largest focuses. The effect of unemployment imposes a huge impact on America’s economy. When people are not working or just can’t find a job, they consume less income forcing a lower demand for goods and services that are not essential to us. The fact of less spending leads to companies being forced to figure out ways to cut cost in order to stay in business. The unemployment labor force is made up of different genders, ethnic groups, and age brackets. It is known that the unemployment rates are different for each one of them. When it comes to sex, it doesn’t matter what race or ethnic group you come from, there are more male unemployed than women. Although, many of these groups were once part of the workforce, they are not counted anymore due to being laid off from their jobs. With so many people not working, this leads to other problems like increased crime rates, poverty, and health problems.
Unemployment for African Americans As the black unemployment persists at a high rate that seems to be so unfavorably high, a rate of 10.6 percent surged nearly twice as high as the overall rate of 5.6 percent in the year 1995. This rate focused on the black male unemployment. This high rate had derived from the high rate of young black males being incarcerated, which also was the blame for households being occupied by single mothers.
This high unemployment level did not take place over night; it has been brewing like this for decades. For the past 30 years, the education system has spent $500 billion a year on education, but we are still asking for more money, programs, and more computers. Teachers believe that this is not the problem; they feel that discipline is the problem. The government has spent $15 trillion dollars in regards to millions of programs on the War on Poverty. Yet as of today, unemployment is much higher, we have more poverty and food stamps than we did since the Great Depression. On top of this, we still claim that we need more programs and stimulus money. “We’ve not taught people to fish; we’ve taught them to stand in line.
According to the Labor Department’s latest jobs report, there are more than 2.5 million Blacks that are unemployed. Criticism has been drawn to Black leaders because of the lack of focus by the Obama Administration on Black unemployment rates. These rates are said to be higher now than they were when President Obama took oath for his first term as President.
Unemployment Gap between Whites / Blacks The gap ratio between black and white unemployment has been tracked as far back as the year 1890. The difference between the two became more noticeable after the wear 1940. The statistics around the 1930’s that were taken within regions and urban areas was misleading and not understood. There were rates conducted by the U.S. Census that found rates 50% higher for blacks than for whites. This was truly a large gap; it existed in both northern and southern cities (U.S. Department of Commerce 1932). At the time of the 1940 census, 10.8% of black workers were unemployed, compared to the 9.5% of whites all across the country. As for wage differences between blacks and whites, there are two characteristics that holds the blame. The rates of hiring and the discrimination in layoffs and hiring of black workers and white workers was not in comparison. The blacks may have been less fortunate because of the jobs they held before were not repetitious and the fact of having fewer years of schooling or lower quality schooling. There were studies of racial differences conducted during the first half of the twentieth century that exposed evidence of discrimination. The average hourly wages for blacks were less for whites in the South for unskilled, entry-level workers, but the majority of companies that hired both races, paid them the same. At the same time, blacks were also excluded from many firms, and the assignment of jobs and gaining of skills were recognized through discrimination, which played a major role. A high degree of occupational segregation was normally exhibited by the labor markets. During the depression period, the racial differences in discrimination and characteristics were believable explanations of the unemployment gap. It was quite clear that the rates of unemployment were higher for those that were less educated and less skilled. Even if blacks acquired a descent education, they were still likely to have a job that paid lower wages. The blacks that were labeled as skilled blacks focused on highly unstable jobs like building trades instead of unskilled service jobs. By doing so, they were left open to increased discrimination by customers and employers. Another high contributing factor to black unemployment was the discrimination in the hiring and firing of equally qualified workers. During a period when the labor market was slacking, the opportunity to replace black employees with whites that were currently unemployed was carried out by employers that received pressure from white customers and workers. This action that was taken by employers was reported by the National Urban League that cited various instances where unemployed whites were taking black worker’s jobs.
Latino Unemployment According to congressional reports, unemployment rates among Hispanics has dramatically increased since December 2007 because of Hispanics being disproportionately employed in sectors of the economy and in areas where the country has suffered the most by recession. Over the past three years, figures from the (BLS) Bureau of Labor Statistics have shown that Hispanic workers were more likely to be employed in the construction sector. This sector suffered the worst during the time that housing collapsed, and in states that experienced dramatic declines in housing prices and the largest increases in foreclosures. The states that were included in the areas that were hit the hardest were states like California, Florida, and Nevada. Although Hispanics had achieved gains in recent years, studies show that those gains had been derailed by the recession. Those gains had been higher than the nation’s overall rates of unemployment. Hispanic jobless rate had been at 4.9 percent in the year 2006, which was 0.3 percentage points higher than the overall unemployment rate. The rates had changed by October 2009; the Hispanic unemployment rate had increased to 13.1 percent, which was 3 points higher than the overall rate. By March, the rate turned around, the jobs for Hispanics had decreased to 12.6 percent doubling what it was when the recession started at the end of 2007. More than one-seventh of the U.S. labor force of ages 16 and older is made up by Latinos. Nearly one out of five jobless Americans is Hispanic. There are reports that indicate that Latinos are still better off than African Americans when it comes to unemployment. In the month of March, when the unemployment rate for Hispanics was 12.6 percent, the rate for African Americans was 16.5 percent. While the unemployment spell lasted about 21.6 weeks for African Americans, the Latinos experienced only 18.9 weeks. It was quite clear that the rise of unemployment rates during the recession were not the same for demographic groups. In the very beginning of the recession African Americans started experiencing much higher rates of unemployment and are still suffering increased rates of long-term unemployment. Hispanic workers that are unemployed have either managed to secure new work quicker than African Americans or have dropped out of the labor force more than the other workers. There are different approaches to take to try and figure out the root cause of these unemployment problems that exist between these demographic groups. The African-American race may promote education and training for younger workers; but the Hispanics may result to policies that encourage mobility and training to help workers find jobs.
Conclusion
Although unemployment affects all people of race, gender, and nationalities, there are still some that suffer more than others. This paper points out the facts of African Americans and Hispanics being affected more than white unemployed workers and African Americans being affected the most out of all races in the United States. The unemployment percentage rates that have been displayed throughout this paper have been ranging around the same figures for many decades. It seems like this struggle to gain employment will never end for the minority groups and with the way that the economy is going; it could get worse before it gets better. Even though minorities have yet to get the best jobs before the white unemployed workers, they continue to strive and search for those jobs that seem to be so far out of reach.

References

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