June 13,1990 The Portland Obsever Page 17
Unemployment Still A Problem
by John E. Jacob
The monthly unemployment fi-
ures coming out of the Labor
'epartment continue to improve
and many economists are openly
proclaiming that the U.S. now has
"full employment."
Nothing could be further from the
truth. Those statistics are low only
relative to the sky-high jobless
rates of recent years. I remember
when five and a half percent un­
employment was caus° for con-
tern, not an excuse fo r declaring
the problem solved.
And those overall statistics don't
put the spotlight where it ought to
be — on minority unemployment.
Black jobless rates are still well into
the double-digits.
The black rate is close to three
times the white rate, which says a
(ot about the nature o, employment
patterns in the U.S. and about the
indifference to black suffering.
While the headlines trumpet so-
g
called “ full-employment" the offi­
cial figures for black unemploy­
ment indicate continuing Depres­
sion in the black community. If
whites suffered the same twelve
percent unemployment that blacks
do, there would be a national
outcry.
That’s why we've go, to keep
focusing on those intolerably high
black rates. They tell us that
th e re 's som ething d ra stica lly
wrong with our economic perfor­
mance, and that race continues to
be a factor in deciding who works
and who goes without.
Beyond that, the way federal
unemployment statistics are com­
piled reinforces the myth of full
Meanwhile, many experts are
suggesting that this long-term
economic recovery is about to run
out of steam and the next reces­
sion may hit within a year. I, that
employment while millions go
without work.
The government doesn't count
as unem ployed anyone who
worked for even a couple of hours
in a week. Nor does it count
part-timers who want full-time
work, new entrants into the labor
force, and discouraged workers —
people who have given up looking
for work because available jobs
are inaccessible or require skills
levels they don't have.
Although the economy has im­
proved since the last recession,
blacks and other minorities still
experience recession-level un­
employment.
happens, it will be painful for all
workers.
But blacks will go into the next
recession with twelve percent offi­
cial unemployment rates and even
higher real jobless rates. We can
then expect one of five black
workers to be back on the un­
employment rolls.
How M any Students Drop
O ut of School Before
G raduating?
In part, that will happen because
blacks are disproportionately con­
centrated in the most vulnerable
jobs in the most vulnerable indus­
tries. The jobs least affected in a
recession require high educational
and skills levels, and are in indus­
tries relatively safe from cyclical
downturns and from import com­
petition.
Do no, like school • Learning d iffic u lty /lo w grades • Pregnancy/
marriage • Economic need/em ploym ent • History of failure in school
Pushed out/raised standards could not be met • Burned o u t/try in g too
hard to succeed • Poor relationships w ith teachers/peers • Poor
home support for education • Lack of supportive relationships •
Bu, those are the jobs that
blacks arejeast likely to hold. And
when minorities do acquire the
educational credentials, their un­
employment rates continue to be
higher than those for whites.
Language/cultural barriers.
Most teenagers say they dropped out of high school because they did
no, like school. Over 25 percent of the females left because they
Government, and especially the
presidential candidates, must ad­
dress this d isastrous black
economic vulnerability. We need
stricter civil rights entorcement,
affirmative action, programs that
assure quality education for the
disadvantaged, and work oppor­
tunities.
Place your advertisement in the
Portland Observer
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