Jec Chair and Black Caucus Chair Talk Unemployment in the Community

Summary

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"Blacks have felt a disproportionate amount of economic pain caused by the recession," said [Carolyn Maloney]. "While Black workers make up just 11.5 percent of the labor force, they make up 22 percent of workers who are unemployed for over a year. For African-American teens, the unemployment rate is 40 percent." The overall teen unemployment rate in America is 25 percent.

The job rates aren't just bad for Black men, however. According to the JEC study, "In February 2007, the unemployment rate among AfricanAmerican women aged 16 and older was 7.1 percent, compared to 4.3 percent among all women aged 16 and older. Most recently, the jobless rate for African-American women of 13.1 percent in February 2010 was 4.5 percentage points higher than the unemployment rate for all women." Dire straits indeed for the African-American community.

"I want to acknowledge Maloney and her staff at the JEC. The report by Congresswoman Maloney laid out the true depth [of African-American unemployment]," [Barbara Lee] said. "The American public needs to understand that this is a political struggle, and they're gonna have to weigh in in a big way."

According to the JEC study, In February 2007, the unemployment rate among AfricanAmerican women aged 16 and older was 7.1 percent, compared to 4.3 percent among all women aged 16 and older.

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Jec Chair and Black Caucus Chair Talk Unemployment in the Community

With most of the political talk hijacked by the merits of health care reform, one thing has been lost amongst the current debate: unemployment - especially in the African-American community.

Last Friday, Congresswoman Carolyn Malone...

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