cheka.
21st September 2016, 08:46 PM
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/a_closer_look_at_black_unemplo.html
As Donald Trump rolls into Detroit on Saturday to lobby for support from the African-American community, it's a safe bet part of his pitch will focus on relatively high rates of black unemployment in Michigan and around the country.
"You're living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs," Trump said in a message to African-American voters during a Aug. 19 speech in Dimondale. "What the hell do you have to lose?"
To be sure, Trump is incorrect in suggesting the majority of blacks have no jobs and live in poverty.
Almost three-quarters of Michigan's African-American families had incomes above the poverty line in 2014, and two-thirds of Michigan black residents ages 25 to 54 were employed, federal data shows.
But there's no disputing a significant economic gap between Michigan's white and black residents.
The state's unemployment rate for black residents was 11.6 percent in 2015, more than twice the 5 percent unemployment rate for white residents.
And the unemployment rate only reflects people who were job-hunting.
About 24 percent of black residents age 24 to 55 were neither employed nor looking for work in 2014, compared 19 percent of whites in that age group, according to federal data.
Both the unemployment rate and labor-market participation numbers have worsened over the past decade or so. In 1999, 76 percent of Michigan African-Americans ages 25 to 55 were working compared to 66 percent in 2014, the federal data shows.
"There are all sorts of indicators" that show African-Americans have been especially hard-hit by Michigan's economic woes, said Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University.
He pointed to Census data on income: African-Americans in Michigan had a median household income of $29,697 in 2014 compared to a median of $49,847 for all Michigan households.
When Michigan had a roaring economy in the 1990s, "blacks did very well" and began to close the financial gap between blacks and whites, Ballard said.
"But blacks have not done as well since the 2001 recession," for a host of reasons, he said.
The Great Recession in 2008-09 dealt another blow to Michigan's working-class population, said Brad Herschbein, an economist for the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo.
The biggest factor: the precipitous drop in manufacturing jobs, especially in southeast Michigan where the state's African-American population is concentrated.
"For a generation or two, the manufacturing sector provided relatively high wages for relatively low-skill jobs," Ballard said. "But the manufacturing, especially in Michigan, has undergone a very tough decline in the first decade of the 21st century."
The evaporation of those jobs particularly impacted the African-American community because black Americans are less likely to have graduated high school or college, big factors in a job market that increasingly emphasizes skilled labor.
About 20 percent of black adult men and 13 percent of black women in Michigan have not finished high school, compared to about 9 percent of whites, Census data shows.
Conversely, about 28 percent of white adults in Michigan had a bachelor's degree compared to 20 percent of black women and 14 percent of black men.
"The difference in educational attainment is an important contributing factor" in why black residents were disproportionately hurt by Michigan's economic downturn, Ballard said.
Hershbein said the Great Recession provided an incentive for firms to up their productivity by increasing automation and "upskilling" their workforce -- i.e., laying off workers and then, when the company started hiring again, increasing the qualifications for their jobs.
It's a trend that contributes to a jobless recovery, as displaced workers may lack the skills to get rehired at their previous wages, he said.
As the job market tightened after the recession, several other factors disproportionately impacted African-Americans.
One is the number of black males with a criminal record, something that can severely undermine their attempts to land a job. One study found that American black people are incarcerated at six times the rate of whites, and another study estimated that one of three black men in the U.S. will be incarcerated at some point in his life.
"In the 1980s and '90s, Michigan quadrupled its prison population," part of a nationwide trend towards mass incarceration fueled by a crackdown on drug-related crimes, Ballard said.
"That's now widely viewed as a social experiment that was almost a total failure," he said, and one with a horrendous legacy for ex-felons in the job market.
Another issue is institutional racism.
In today's tighter job market, people more likely than ever to rely on social connections to learn about job openings and/or gain a job interview -- connections that black Americans are less likely to have.
There also is evidence that employers are more reluctant to hire African-Americans.
A 2008 study found that white men with a felony on their record were twice as likely to get a job interview as black men with a clean record. Another study in 2003 found that resumes from names associated with African-Americans, such as Lakisha Washington and Jamal Jones, are 33 percent less likely to get a response from potential employers.
Bottom line: African-American millennials with a college degree have the same unemployment rate as whites with a high school diploma but no college experience, a 2014 analysis of federal data showed.
In recent weeks, Trump has linked Hillary Clinton to "failed" Democrat policies that have created a permanent underclass among African-Americans.
On Saturday, Sept. 3, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson at Great Faith Ministries International in Detroit is expected interview Trump about his agenda to help African-Americans. The interview will be broadcast on the Impact Network's website.
"This interview is NOT a rally or an endorsement for Mr. Trump. This is an opportunity as a community to get answers to questions that seriously impact our daily lives and future," Jackson said in a statement on the Impact Network's website.
"Our community is diverse and not all issues relate to all black people, but our goal is to address those issues which our most pressing to parts of our community in these times."
As Donald Trump rolls into Detroit on Saturday to lobby for support from the African-American community, it's a safe bet part of his pitch will focus on relatively high rates of black unemployment in Michigan and around the country.
"You're living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs," Trump said in a message to African-American voters during a Aug. 19 speech in Dimondale. "What the hell do you have to lose?"
To be sure, Trump is incorrect in suggesting the majority of blacks have no jobs and live in poverty.
Almost three-quarters of Michigan's African-American families had incomes above the poverty line in 2014, and two-thirds of Michigan black residents ages 25 to 54 were employed, federal data shows.
But there's no disputing a significant economic gap between Michigan's white and black residents.
The state's unemployment rate for black residents was 11.6 percent in 2015, more than twice the 5 percent unemployment rate for white residents.
And the unemployment rate only reflects people who were job-hunting.
About 24 percent of black residents age 24 to 55 were neither employed nor looking for work in 2014, compared 19 percent of whites in that age group, according to federal data.
Both the unemployment rate and labor-market participation numbers have worsened over the past decade or so. In 1999, 76 percent of Michigan African-Americans ages 25 to 55 were working compared to 66 percent in 2014, the federal data shows.
"There are all sorts of indicators" that show African-Americans have been especially hard-hit by Michigan's economic woes, said Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University.
He pointed to Census data on income: African-Americans in Michigan had a median household income of $29,697 in 2014 compared to a median of $49,847 for all Michigan households.
When Michigan had a roaring economy in the 1990s, "blacks did very well" and began to close the financial gap between blacks and whites, Ballard said.
"But blacks have not done as well since the 2001 recession," for a host of reasons, he said.
The Great Recession in 2008-09 dealt another blow to Michigan's working-class population, said Brad Herschbein, an economist for the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo.
The biggest factor: the precipitous drop in manufacturing jobs, especially in southeast Michigan where the state's African-American population is concentrated.
"For a generation or two, the manufacturing sector provided relatively high wages for relatively low-skill jobs," Ballard said. "But the manufacturing, especially in Michigan, has undergone a very tough decline in the first decade of the 21st century."
The evaporation of those jobs particularly impacted the African-American community because black Americans are less likely to have graduated high school or college, big factors in a job market that increasingly emphasizes skilled labor.
About 20 percent of black adult men and 13 percent of black women in Michigan have not finished high school, compared to about 9 percent of whites, Census data shows.
Conversely, about 28 percent of white adults in Michigan had a bachelor's degree compared to 20 percent of black women and 14 percent of black men.
"The difference in educational attainment is an important contributing factor" in why black residents were disproportionately hurt by Michigan's economic downturn, Ballard said.
Hershbein said the Great Recession provided an incentive for firms to up their productivity by increasing automation and "upskilling" their workforce -- i.e., laying off workers and then, when the company started hiring again, increasing the qualifications for their jobs.
It's a trend that contributes to a jobless recovery, as displaced workers may lack the skills to get rehired at their previous wages, he said.
As the job market tightened after the recession, several other factors disproportionately impacted African-Americans.
One is the number of black males with a criminal record, something that can severely undermine their attempts to land a job. One study found that American black people are incarcerated at six times the rate of whites, and another study estimated that one of three black men in the U.S. will be incarcerated at some point in his life.
"In the 1980s and '90s, Michigan quadrupled its prison population," part of a nationwide trend towards mass incarceration fueled by a crackdown on drug-related crimes, Ballard said.
"That's now widely viewed as a social experiment that was almost a total failure," he said, and one with a horrendous legacy for ex-felons in the job market.
Another issue is institutional racism.
In today's tighter job market, people more likely than ever to rely on social connections to learn about job openings and/or gain a job interview -- connections that black Americans are less likely to have.
There also is evidence that employers are more reluctant to hire African-Americans.
A 2008 study found that white men with a felony on their record were twice as likely to get a job interview as black men with a clean record. Another study in 2003 found that resumes from names associated with African-Americans, such as Lakisha Washington and Jamal Jones, are 33 percent less likely to get a response from potential employers.
Bottom line: African-American millennials with a college degree have the same unemployment rate as whites with a high school diploma but no college experience, a 2014 analysis of federal data showed.
In recent weeks, Trump has linked Hillary Clinton to "failed" Democrat policies that have created a permanent underclass among African-Americans.
On Saturday, Sept. 3, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson at Great Faith Ministries International in Detroit is expected interview Trump about his agenda to help African-Americans. The interview will be broadcast on the Impact Network's website.
"This interview is NOT a rally or an endorsement for Mr. Trump. This is an opportunity as a community to get answers to questions that seriously impact our daily lives and future," Jackson said in a statement on the Impact Network's website.
"Our community is diverse and not all issues relate to all black people, but our goal is to address those issues which our most pressing to parts of our community in these times."