Any
compromise President Obama reaches with Congress will fail to significantly
reduce Black unemployment unless the plan is crafted to address joblessness in
the three industries where African-American workers are concentrated –
government jobs, education and health services.
According
to a University of California-Berkeley Labor Center research brief titled,
“Black Workers and the Public Sector,” 20.9 percent of African-Americans are
employed in what is called the public administration sector and 18.5 percent
work in education and health services.
The
report, written by Steven Pitts, shows some variations within the Black
community. For example, most Black males (18 percent) are employed in the
public administration sector. However, most African-American females (27
percent) are employed in education and health services. Public administration
is the second-leading employer for Black women at 23.3 percent.
But the
gender differences don’t stop there. After public administration, the next
highest employers for Black men are manufacturing (14.7 percent), wholesale and
retail trade (14.3 percent), professional and business services (9 percent) and
educational and health services (8.4 percent).
By
contrast, after education and health services (27 percent) and public
administration (23.3 percent), Black women were employed in wholesale and
retail trade (11.3 percent), professional and business services (7.2 percent)
and manufacturing (7.1 percent).
Thus,
when looking at the top five employment industries, the sector most likely to
hire Black women – education and health services – was the one least likely to
hire African-American men. Any successful job plan must take into account these
gender differences.
UC-Berkeley
Labor Center research challenges President Obama’s contention that a rising
tide lifts all boats.
In a 2009
interview, Obama said: “The most important thing I can do for the African
American community is the same thing I can do for the American community,
period, and that is to get the economy going again and get people hiring
again.”
But as
the Labor Center brief observes, “…Often policy prescriptions that, on the
surface, are race-neutral can have decidedly racial impacts.”
That’s
crucial when considering Black unemployment is at the highest level in 27
years. As the U.S. Department of Labor report titled, “The Black Labor Force in
the Recovery” notes, the unemployment rate of Blacks in 2007, the year the
recession began, was 8.3 percent, compared to 4.1 percent for Whites and 5.6
percent for Latinos.
Overall
unemployment peaked at 10.1 percent in October but fell to 9.1 percent in July
and August. Black unemployment had peaked at 16.5 percent in March and April of
2011. But that was eclipsed last month when Black unemployment rose to 16.7
percent – twice as high it was when Obama assumed office.
Although
President Obama shouldn’t be blamed for the increase in Black unemployment, he
does have a responsibility to effectively address the issue. And there are no
simple solutions.
There is
a tendency to discuss Black unemployment in the abstract, but a look at the
numbers reveals gender and racial variations. The overall unemployment rate in
August was 9.1 percent. The unemployment rate for Whites was 8 percent, 11.3
percent for Latinos and 16.7 percent for African-Americans.
Unemployment
among Black females edged up slightly from July to August from 14.3 percent to
14.5 percent. Over this same period, Black men saw their unemployment rate jump
from 17.7 percent to 19.1 percent.
African-American
female teens, ages 16-19, had a higher unemployment level (47.9 percent) than
their male counterparts (45.2 percent). The teen female unemployment rate has
risen steadily, from 26.8 percent in December 2007 to 33.8 percent in June
2009, to 40.4 percent in July 2011 and to a top of 47.9 percent in August.
Black
male teens experienced a more uneven ride, increasing from 39.8 percent in
December 2007 to 45.1 percent in June 2009 before falling to 38 percent in July
2011 and rising again to 45.2 percent last month.
Commentators
like to remind President Obama that his ability to keep his job in 2012 is
contingent upon how well he handles the jobs issue. From time to time,
President Obama places the unemployment issue at the top of his agenda. Often –
as part of an agenda driven by his political opponents – his attention is
diverted by some superfluous issue as his birth certificate or the phony debt
ceiling debate.
As
evidenced by his speech Thursday night to a joint session of Congress, job
creation is back at the top of the White House agenda. After a net loss of jobs
in August, the president can’t afford to allow himself to be diverted from his
main challenge again. That will necessitate taking bold action to restart the
economy and not proposing only what he thinks can be passed in Tea
Party-dominated House of Representatives.
Great presidents
– including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson – are
still respected decades after leaving the White House because they molded
public opinion during a time of monumental crisis. If Barack Obama wants to be
considered a great president or to even get re-elected, he must demonstrate
strong leadership as his opponents try to deliver on their pledge to deny him a
second term.
George E.
Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is
a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his
Web site, www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge.
