November 23, 2016 The Skanner Page 3
News
Unemployment cont’d from pg 1
“
ly edging down from 58
percent in September to
57.9 percent in October.
Last month, the unem-
ployment rate for White
women was the lowest of
all adult working groups
at 3.8 percent, but the
participation rate for
White women took a step
down from 57.5 percent
in September to 57.4 per-
While we celebrate this prog-
ress, we also remain commit-
ted to making meaningful
investments in our nation’s
families and in our economy
to ensure that our growing
prosperity is broadly shared
The
unemployment
rate for Black men
jumped from 8.2 per-
cent in September to
8.7 percent in October.
The participation rate
for Black men remained
unchanged from Sep-
tember to October (67.5
percent) and the employ-
ment-population ratio
also decreased from 62
percent in September to
61.7 percent in October.
The jobless rate for
White
men
hasn’t
changed since July (4.1
percent) and the share
of White male workers
that were employed (69
percent) hasn’t changed
since August.
The labor force partic-
ipation rate decreased
from 72 percent in Sep-
tember to 71.9 percent in
October.
The jobless rate for
Black women over 20
years-old ticked up from
7 percent in September
to 7.1 percent in October.
The labor force partic-
ipation rate for Black
women remained at 62.3
percent the same mark
set in September, but the
employment-population
ratio weakened slight-
cent in October.
The employment-pop-
ulation ratio for White
women was 55.3 percent,
the same mark set in Sep-
tember.
Elise Gould, a senior
economist at the Eco-
nomic Policy Institute,
said that there was some
good news in October’s
jobs report noting that
the
economy
added
161,000 new jobs and that
“nominal wage growth
increased 2.8 percent
over the year” which
could indicate that work-
ers are starting to gain
some leverage in the la-
bor market.
The national unem-
ployment rate improved
from 5 percent in Sep-
tember to 4.9 percent in
October. The healthcare
sector added 31,000 jobs
in October and 415,000
jobs over the past 12
months, according to the
Labor Department.
“The economy contin-
ues to move in the right
direction, but consider-
able slack remains and
the recovery has yet to be
fully realized in all parts
of the economy or for all
workers,” said Gould.
PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER
down from 62.9 percent
in September to 62.8 per-
cent in October.
The employment-pop-
ulation ratio slipped
from September’s 60.2
percent to 60.1 percent in
October.
Among adults 20 years
and older, Black men suf-
fered the biggest setback
in October.
Wake of Vanport
The Skanner News screened the newest edition of the Wake of Vanport series at the historic Hollywood Theatre in Northeast Portland
Nov. 20. The 2016 series features 10 new stories of Vanport survivors. The Wake of Vanport oral history project aims to capture the
memories of those who lived in Vanport before the town was destroyed by a flood in 1948. Historian and author Zita Podany gave
a brief talk about life in the hastily constructed workforce housing town. After the screening, Vanport survivor Lee Moore led a
discussion about the importance of Vanport history. Moore advocated for a permanent memorial of Vanport to be placed where the
town once was.
PPS cont’d from pg 1
Enforcement officials who come
on to PPS property to remove stu-
dents or collect information.
School board member Julie Es-
parza Brown, who introduced the
resolution, said the action was in
response to the fears from stu-
dents, parents and the commu-
nity. President-elect Trump cam-
paigned heavily on the promise
of the mass deportation of undoc-
umented immigrants.
“There’s been a lot of hateful,
negative and scary rhetoric over
the past couple of weeks and with
that comes a lot of fear and uncer-
tainty in our community,” Brown
said. The resolution designates
PPS schools as a safe space for all
students regardless of immigra-
tion status. Any ICE officer must
first notify the superintendent
and district legal counsel before
entering PPS property. The offi-
cer must provide legal validity
for any request and written au-
thority by Immigration and Natu-
ralization Services.
The resolution states that all
ICE attempts need to give ad-
equate notice to verify the le-
“
were getting a number of calls
and emails from worried parents.
Brown said that they could not
help the national political envi-
‘We can’t control what happens at the
national level, but in our own lives at
work, at school, in our communities and
across our institutions, we can stand up
against any racism, sexism, xenophobia
— any form of hatred’
gality and to allow PPS officials
to take steps to provide for the
safety of students and staff.
Additionally, PPS staff cannot ask
about a student or family mem-
ber’s immigration status and can
not reveal information about that
status without parental consent.
The resolution gives the school
system 90 days to train staff.
School board members Brown
and Amy Kohnstamm said they
ronment, but they could affect
change locally.
“We can’t control what hap-
pens at the national level, but in
our own lives at work, at school,
in our communities and across
our institutions, we can stand up
against any racism, sexism, xe-
nophobia — any form of hatred,”
Brown said.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
abilities, were also less likely to have
bank accounts — and according to the
National Disability Institute, African
Americans with disabilities are par-
ticularly likely to do without banking
services: two-thirds of African Amer-
icans with disabilities are unbanked
or underbanked, as compared with 46
percent of all adults with disabilities.
The FDIC notes financially under-
served people are more vulnerable to
crime — and lose time and money seek-
ing out financial services like check
cashing.
The report also says households that
don’t have bank accounts are more like-
ly to have unpredictable incomes, and
recommends banks develop services to
adapt to their needs.
“Bank products and services that en-
able households to better manage their
account relationships and meet their
financial needs when income is volatile
may help these consumers open and
sustain bank accounts and conduct a
greater share of their financial trans-
actions within the banking system,” the
report says.
And some banks and credit unions
are starting to offer services specifical-
ly tailored for people who don’t have
traditional bank accounts.
“
the Northwest Credit Union Associa-
tion. Members open a savings account
and for every $25 deposit (up to 10 per
month), they are entered into a month-
ly cash drawing.
Steve Pagenstecher, the vice presi-
dent for member experience at Point
West Credit Union
in Portland, said
Point
West
—
which merged with
the NAACP’s credit
union in 1995 and Hacienda’s in 2004 —
during the Great Recession launched a
lending program for non-U.S. citizens
to ensure they’d be able to access credit,
including car loans. Often, immigrants
come to the United States with no cred-
it history at all, and the program offers
them the opportunity build credit,
making it easier to access home and car
loans or apply for rental properties.
“We don’t talk about it as a separate
program. We offer consumer lending
at rates for all — everything excluding
‘What we don’t want is to have
these households left behind’
Credit unions have also expanded
their services to better meet the needs
of populations who are often under-
served by traditional banking institu-
tions.
The Save to Win program, for in-
stance, was created in Michigan in
2009 to encourage people to build sav-
ings habits by providing cash prize
incentives, and is now available in 10
states, including Oregon, according
to Lynn Heider, vice president of pub-
lic relations and communications for
PHOTO BY DORAN (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) VIA FLICKR
Unbanked cont’d from pg 1
Families without bank accounts are more likely
to use nontraditional financial services, including
check cashing services that charge fees – but
banks and credit unions are offering more tools to
reach financially underserved customers.
real estate loans,” Pagenstecher told
The Skanner. “Everything is open to
noncitizens if they qualify.”
Read more at TheSkanner.com