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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2016)
June 1, 2016 The Skanner CAREERS EDITION Page 3 CAREERS By Freddie Allen NNPA Senior Washing- ton Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – The Black unemploy- ment rate tumbled to 9.1 percent in July, the lowest rate for Black workers in seven years, according to the latest jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department. Even though the Black jobless rate has slowly ticked down to 2008 lev- els, some economists ex- pressed concerns about the labor force participa- tion rate, the measure of people who are employed or looking for jobs. The Black labor force participation rate de- creased from 61.7 percent in June to 61.5 percent in July, which could indi- cate that the unemploy- ment rate fell because some people simply gave up looking for work. By comparison, the White unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate re- mained unchanged from June levels, 4.6 percent and 62.8 percent, respec- tively. Valerie Wilson, an economist at the Eco- nomic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C. based think tank focused on low- and middle-income families, found that Ten- nessee had the lowest Black jobless rate (6.9 percent) in the second quarter of 2015, which was almost the same as the highest White unem- ployment rate (7 percent in West Virginia). Wilson also reported “ highest Black unemploy- ment rates in the nation before the recession. “African Americans are still unemployed at a higher rate than their white counterparts in almost every state,” Wil- son said. “We need policies that look beyond simply re- ducing unemployment to pre-recession levels as an end goal.” not only saw a slight in- crease in their month- over-month jobless rate as it edged up from 7.9 percent June to 8 per- cent in July, their labor force participation rate also increased from 62 percent to 62.1 percent, which could signal that Black women are enter- ing the labor force and inding work. In a statement about African Americans are still unemployed at a higher rate than their white counterparts in almost every state that the African Amer- ican unemployment rate “was at or below its pre-recession level in eight states”: Michigan, Indian, Ohio, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Illi- nois, and Missouri. In the press release on her analysis of state unemployment rates by race and ethnicity, Wil- son said that even though the Black unemploy- ment rate has returned to pre-recession levels in those eight states, the states that are seeing im- provements, with the ex- ception of Texas, had the The national unem- ployment rate was 5.3 percent and 215,000 jobs were created in July. Economic indicators for Black male workers over 20 years old fol- lowed the same pattern as Black workers in gen- eral. The Black male unem- ployment rate plunged to 8.8 percent from 9.5 percent the year before, but the participation rate also decreased from 67.6 percent in June to 67 percent in July. On the other hand, Black female workers Make a diference. Do you want to know that your work makes a differ- ence? At FamilyCare Health, we touch lives every day. As a Medicare and Medicaid managed care orga- nization, we coordinate medical, behavioral health, and dental care for more than 130,000 Oregonians. When you join our team, we invest in you so you can grow and succeed both in and out of the ofice! • 4 weeks PTO your irst year • Generous healthcare package (you pay $0 - $40 per pay period) • Plus much more! Ready for a new path? Join our team and start doing your life’s best work! Currently Hiring For: Bilingual (Russian) Customer Ser- vice/Member Navigators, Nurses, Management posi- tions, etc. For a full list of job openings, visit www.familycareinc.org/careers 825 NE Multnomah, Suite 1400, Portland, OR 97232 Phone: 503-222-2880 the jobs report, Rep. Rob- ert C. “Bobby” Scott (D- Va.) said that the report showed that economy is still improving, growing and heading in the right direction. “With the sixty-ith consecutive month of private sector job growth, and the unem- ployment rate holding at 5.3 percent, our nation continues to recover from the 2008 economic recession,” said Scott. He also said, “While this is excellent news, our eforts to rebuild our economy are not com- FREDDIE ALLEN/NNPA Black Unemployment Dips to 7-Year Low Rep. Bobby Scott was encouraged by new jobless igures. plete until every person who wants a job is able to ind a stable one.” Connie Razza, the direc- tor of Strategic Research for the Center for Popu- lar Democracy (CPD), a group focused on racial justice that describes it- self as “pro-worker” and “pro-immigrant,” said that the latest job num- bers show that lat wages and a sluggish recovery continue to threaten the livelihood of working families. “Federal Reserve oi- cials must look beyond the topline employment igures to determine whether the economy has truly recovered,” said Razza in a statement. “Even the state with the lowest rate of Black un- employment still has a rate equivalent to the state with the high- est White unemploy- ment rate.” Razza continued: “With Black families still out of work and wage growth nowhere to be found, the economy is simply not ready for the Fed to slow it down.” She warned the Federal Reserve against raising interest rates in 2015. “While there are re- ports of the Fed staf suggesting one interest rate hike to 0.35 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to the [Federal Open Market Committee] forecasts of two hikes in the year achieving 0.65 percent, the Fed Up cam- paign remains convinced that the only humane, in- clusive, and economical- ly sound approach from the Fed would be to write of increasing interest rates for 2015, and in- stead to commit to wage targeting,” said Razza.