Saturday, May 28, 2005
Why Has Black Unemployment Risen (Yes, Risen!) In The "Bush Boom"?
Recent employment reports show steady, if undramatic, increases in hiring. Some Administration pundits talk, without irony, about a
"Bush Boom." The "jobless recovery" may be
over for some—most notably
Hispanics. But the story is very different for
Black Americans. Blacks are faring worse than they did at a similar stage in the
previous recovery at the end of Bush I’s term. Amazingly, thirteen quarters into the "Bush Boom," Black unemployment has risen.
Here are the comparative results for the first 13 quarters of this economic recovery as compiled by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI): ["
African Americans in the current recovery," April 6, 2005.]
Total unemployment rate: down 0.2 percentage points now; down 0.4 points in the early 1990s recovery
-White unemployment: down 0.4 points now; down 0.4 points then
-Black unemployment: Up 0.8 points now; down 0.6 points then
-Black male unemployment: Up 1.4 points now; down 0.7 points then
-Black female unemployment: Up 0.3 points now; down 0.5 points then
Black unemployment generally responds to changing economic conditions more quickly than white unemployment, reflecting the over-representation of Blacks in
manufacturing and other
highly cyclical sectors of the economy. The trend held in the early 1990s. It abruptly ended with Bush II’s recovery.
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posted by Cynthia
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