Unemployment Gets Worse for Black Men by Frederick H. Lowe

June 15, 2015

Unemployment Gets Worse for Black Men
By Frederick H. Lowe

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Lester Nute didn’t have to wait for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to tell him black men have a hard time finding work.

Nute, a 57 year-old Vietnam-era Army veteran, has not held a full-time job in 12 years. That doesn’t mean he’s discouraged and stopped looking.

He was standing with 10 other African-American men, across the street from a U-Haul truck rental facility, on Chicago’s North Side, hoping to find work for a couple of hours or even a day.

When a customer loaded his or her car with boxes in the U-Haul parking lot, Nute and the other men raised their arms and yelled, “We can help you move.”

I interviewed him on Saturday, and it was a slow. “People don’t have money so they use their friends so it’s been slow for a while,” Nute said. “I try to find work here because I need money to eat.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its monthly jobs report on Friday, and it’s not clear if Nute was even counted because he has been out of work so long.

BLS said the jobless rate for black men 20 years old and older was 10.2 percent in May, up from 9.2 percent in April, and this occurred even though U.S. companies added 280,000 jobs last month. BLS noted that 8.7 million remain unemployed.

As the economy has improved, finding work has actually gotten more difficult for black men to find. There could be many reasons for this situation. Companies don’t like to hire black men. At the U-Haul, the day I went there, only Hispanics and whites were working.

It is not known what job skills Nute and the others have. He also said he suffers from mental illness.

LoyDell Roberson was standing next to Nute. Roberson, who is 61, said he spent 18 years in Statesville Prison after being convicted of rape.

After getting out of prison, Roberson

said he loaded newspapers for the Chicago Sun-Times, a major Chicago newspaper, and sold Streetwise, a newspaper sold by Chicago’s homeless. Now he is standing across the street from U-Haul hoping to find work.

“I stand here and wait for work. Not every Saturday. I am by myself so it is tough,” he said.

The unemployment rate for black men 20 years old and older is always the highest compared to other racial, ethnic and groups.

The jobless rate for black women 20 and over in May was 8.8 percent, the same as April. The jobless rate for Hispanic men 20 years older and was 6.0 percent in May, the same as April. For Hispanic women, the jobless rate in May was 6.5 percent, down from 6.9 percent.

The unemployment rate for white men was 4.2 percent in May, down from 4.4 percent in April. The jobless rate for white women was 4.3 percent in May, actually up from 4.2 percent in April.

Asians reported the lowest unemployment rate of 4.1 percent in May, down from 4.4 percent in April.

As I slowly drove by U-Haul, some of the men approached the car to learn how many men I needed and when. I stopped the car, and I told them I didn’t have any work today but I would check back with them later to hire them. I hire white and Hispanic workers. I told my wife we need to hire black men for jobs around the house we can’t do without help

Summer Jobs Pay Future Dividends to Our Nation by Marc H. Morial

June 14, 2015

To Be Equal

Summer Jobs Pay Future Dividends to Our Nation

By Marc H. Morial

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - "Your first job brings you more than just a steady paycheck – the experience teaches young people life and work skills that serve them long after the job is done. But as our nation continues to recover [from] the deepest recession since the Great Depression, American youth are struggling to get the work experience they need for jobs of the future.” – White House, “We Can’t Wait Initiative” Statement Release, January 2012

I can still remember my very first job—and the valuable lessons I learned from it that continue to inform my career to this day. I got my first taste of entrepreneurship as one-third of a three-man janitorial company I started with two childhood friends. We mowed lawns, washed cars and cleaned windows. If it needed fixing or cleaning, we were the ones to call. At the age of 15, I earned my first steady paycheck as a copy boy for a local newspaper. Like so many millions of teens before and after me, I had the chance to be exposed to the world of work at an early age. And I earned more than money from the experience. With work came important lessons about responsibility, effective communication, time management, interpersonal skills and more. Today, as our nation continues to recover from the crippling impact of the Great Recession on our economy and job market, the ability of teens to jump-start their future careers, as they were once able to, remains in jeopardy.

Not only did jobs disappear during our nation’s economic downturn, summer jobs—widely acknowledged as the traditional means of entry into our nation’s workforce for teens and young adults—became scarce. Competition from older workers for those entry-level jobs once reserved for teens increased as the labor market weakened, and with states slashing budgets to make ends meet, state and federally funded summer jobs placement programs were either underfunded or cut. But teen employment matters for their future and for our nation’s. It not only gives young people something productive to do during the summer months, that job in the retail store, library or the local newspaper is money in their pocket and money being spent within the community. Studies have also shown that those who work when they are young are more likely to be employed in the future and will earn higher salaries.

After a high of 27.2 percent teen unemployment in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment for workers ages 16-19 is now down to 17.9 percent. As is the case with adult workers, teens are beginning to find jobs as the market recovers, but unemployment remains high for young people—disproportionately affecting low-income youth and Blacks and Hispanics. The national unemployment rate stands at a staggering 30.1 percent for Black teens and 19.2 percent for Hispanic teens. The groups of teens who need the work most in order to help themselves, and very often make a significant contribution to their family’s budget, are not finding the jobs.

Our nation’s answer to this dilemma has been a fractured portrait of private and public initiatives and success. Cities and states have cobbled together money—when it’s in the budget— and have funneled it to local groups or agencies that connect youths to jobs or job training. In 2012, the White House launched Summer Jobs+ as part of the “We Can’t Wait” initiative. The project brought together the federal government and the private sector to create 180,000 employment opportunities for low-income youth. At the National Urban League, we work with at-risk youth to introduce them into the workforce through a comprehensive set of services through the Urban Youth Empowerment Program. While all of these efforts are laudable and have changed many lives and communities for the better, it is not enough. Our nation needs to expand summer job programs and create year-round employment for our young people. We need a commitment that says yes to teens and to their future. Our nation needs a comprehensive jobs solution for young people, because piecemeal solutions will only deliver far-flung pockets of success.

Investing in our young people is an investment in the continued strength of this great nation and its workforce. Young people need the formative workplace skills they can get in those entry-level jobs to move on to greater career success and higher salaries in the future. Our nation, and its local economies, benefit when teens spend their disposable income. Surely there are tax loopholes, corporate or otherwise, that can be closed, bringing additional dollars to the table to invest in our young people. The financial cost of not investing in teens, not creating opportunities for future success, is what will cost this country, and our future in the fast-paced global economy, the most.

Hillary a Champion of Voting Rights by Jesse Jackson

June 13, 2015

Hillary a Champion of Voting Rights
By Jesse Jackson

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Last week, Hillary Clinton stated the simple truths about voting in America, in a stirring address before students at Texas Southern University. The right to vote, not explicitly guaranteed in the Constitution, is fundamental to a democracy. Yet across this country, we witness systematic efforts to erect impediments to voting in order to, in Clinton’s words, “disempower and disenfranchise people of color, poor people and young people.”

After the Supreme Court ripped the heart out of the Voting Rights Act, Republicans in state after state passed laws to constrict the right to vote. In Texas, for example, a concealed weapons permit qualifies as “official identification” needed to vote, whereas a valid student ID is no longer sufficient. Across the country, minority voters are more likely than white voters to face long lines in order to cast their votes. The young and the poor are less likely to have the official identification needed to vote.

This is, as Clinton said, not an accident, and “it’s just wrong.” She called out by name potential contenders for the Republican presidential nomination — Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush — who have pushed voter restrictions, asking, “What part of democracy are they afraid of?”

Arguing that every citizen should have the right to vote, Clinton argued the common sense position that we should do what we can to make voting easier, not make it harder. She called for restoring the Voting Rights Act, to ensure pre-screening of election law changes that potentially discriminate against classes of voters. She embraced the bipartisan presidential commission recommendations for expanding early absentee and mail voting and for ensuring that no one waits more than 30 minutes to cast a vote.

She also broke new ground. She urged a national requirement of 20 days of early in-person voting everywhere, including voting on weekends and on evenings, making it easier for working people to cast their ballot.

Most important, she called for universal, automatic voter registration. Every citizen at 18 would be automatically registered, unless he or she chooses to opt out. A nationally synchronized system could ensure that registration moves with the citizen, so no one needs register again. This would put an end to the false posturing about phantom voter fraud that Republicans use to erect barriers to voting.

The right to vote, as Clinton summarized, is central to democracy. But it is also about dignity. It is about inclusion. It says I am an American. My voice counts.

Clinton noted that the struggle for the right to vote was central to the civil rights movement. But that struggle has not ended. Once more voting rights are under attack. Once more barriers to voting are being erected by those who fear a true vote of the people. Once more we need citizens to mobilize to demand their right to vote. Once more we need courageous leaders to defend that right. With this powerful speech, Hillary Clinton has stood up to be counted in that fight.

No Trickle Down Recovery by Julianne Malveaux

June 14, 2015

No Trickle Down Recovery
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The unemployment rate rose just a bit in May, an indicator that Wall Street and Main Street are celebrating because that means more people are looking for work and that more people are optimistic. Some polling data says something quite different – two major media polls show widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo, with majority support for an increased minimum wage, for paid parental leave and paid sick leave. Further, more than 60 percent said there was room for advancement in our economy.

An analysis of the New York Times/CBS poll concludes, “inequality looms large” in the minds of most Democrats and independents, and nearly half of all Republicans. These are the folks who are reading the headlines that say things are getting better, and living a life that say things are too slow and too stagnant for them.

The disconnect partly reflects the difference between productivity increases and GDP increases. In other words, people are working harder, and national productivity is growing faster, than wages are. Last month the average hourly worker earned about 8 cents more than they did the month before. Those eight cents represent a 2.3 percent increase this year. This sounds like good news this year, but what about stuck wages for the past several years? Those who are reading about good news are wondering, “what about me?”

The latest unemployment report sends a similar mixed message. While the unemployment rate ticked up from 5.4 percent to 5.5 percent, the good news is that 280,000 new jobs were created in May 2015. That’s great news and much on target for the number of jobs that need to be created to bring us back to the employment levels we enjoyed eight years ago. Not so good news – many of these jobs aren’t “good jobs”. Nearly half of the jobs in “business services” are part-time or consulting jobs. These are jobs that offer no health insurance, no sick days, no paid vacation. These are folks who, even when highly compensated are on their own.

Perhaps the increase in leisure and hospitality employment reflects optimism about the economy, because it suggests that employers think more people will be traveling and enjoying hospitality services this summer. Still, most of the jobs in this industry are part time – with the average worker getting 22 hours a week, too few to qualify for benefits. In hospitality, including food and drinking places, young people are working at a low wage, often depending on tips, always earning less than they might if the labor market would absorb them at their skill level. Meanwhile, many of us who enjoy the services of the coffee barista, the waitress, or the theme park guide don’t ever wonder how they are paid.

Still, it makes sense to revel in the good news – the unemployment rate is lower than it was a year ago. Always, though, there are the footnotes. The 5.5 percent unemployment rate is 10.8 percent when indices of labor utilization are considered. The African American unemployment rate, at 10.2 percent, is nearly 20 percent when underutilization measures are considered. The 20 percent rate lower than a year ago, but it is still too high.

The percentage of the population that is employed also reflects significant racial gaps. While nearly seventy percent of White men are working, just 62 percent of Black men have jobs. And while the same percentage of White women and Black women hold jobs, given data on men, it is clear that African American women are responsible for much more of the family income than Caucasian women are.

No wonder people who hear the good news don’t feel it. No wonder they are responding to polls with a concern that does not reflect the so-called good news. No wonder, that too many are concerned about poor working conditions, about feeling that they have no opportunity to improve their situation, about being frightened by the income inequality that will determine the futures of their children.

Are we excited about the news that the economy is recovering? Of course. Some of us would be much more excited if the recovery trickled down.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist. She can be reached at www.juliannemalveaux.com

Hillary and Voting Rights: The Fix is In Once Again By James Clingman

June 13, 2015

Blackonomics

Hillary and Voting Rights: The Fix is In Once Again
By James Clingman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In March of 2007, I wrote an article titled, Obama Drama. Here is the opening paragraph: “Will the euphoria sweeping through our ranks over the possibility of a Black President eventually dominate our collective psyche? Will it overwhelm us with notions of “equality” and “victory,” and ostensibly cause us to subordinate our primary interests and abandon the pressing issues that negatively impact Black life in America?”

Just when I thought we had learned our political lesson, along comes another one. Our collective anesthesia began in the first week of June 2015, when Hillary Clinton made voter suppression her major theme. She went to Texas and called out Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, and Jeb Bush, all of whom she said supported voter suppression laws in their respective states.

Not only did she go into that lion’s den called the State of Texas, she gave her speech at Texas Southern University, an HBCU. “So what,” you say? Take your anesthesia mask off for a moment and think about this. Back in 2007 Black people started inhaling the nitrous oxide and fell into what has now become nearly a seven-year state of political euphoria. Some of us are still laughing from the gas we inhaled.

Now, with Hillary’s foray into the sacred bastion of voting, saying she will fight against voter suppression, while surrounded by smiling Black folks (Or should I say, “Grinning” Black folks?) on a Black college campus, the fix is in once again. We are being numbed out and dumbed down, and many of us will traipse to the polls and vote for Hillary in 2016 simply because of this one issue. “She’s for voting rights,” many will say, and that will simply be enough for them. Yes, voting is very important, but that one issue must not be used as the panacea for Black political empowerment.

There will be no other issue on the minds of many Black voters since they will have been programmed while under anesthesia. They will demand nothing more of Hillary, or any of the other Presidential candidates. They will not make demands around criminal justice; they will not demand some form of reparation for Black people; they will not demand a student loan bailout; and they will not demand a Marshall Pan for America’s urban areas in which Blacks reside.

Hillary is already playing the voting card with Black folks because she knows that’s what wins us over. I am sure she will be in Selma next year, lending her shoulder to John Lewis as he weeps, saying, “Don’t worry Black folks; I will protect your right to vote, for real this time.”

She will attend the NAACP national convention in a staunch show of support for that organization’s fight against voter suppression, even though the NAACP has shown no penchant for outlawing voter suppression in its own ranks. That’s right; there are several open cases of the NAACP allowing and maybe even supporting voter suppression in local branches across the nation, led and promulgated by its henchman, Gill Ford.

Hillary is already dancing to the Black voter tune, and once the music stops in a couple of months, and we are well under the influence of her anesthetizing effect, she will then move to the more important business of dealing with the agendas of other groups. She knows all we need to pacify us is a call for voting rights.

Not to worry though. There is a group of conscious (as opposed to being politically anesthetized and unconscious) Black people who will not submit to the nitrous oxide. It is called the One Million Conscious Black Voters and Contributors (OMCBV&C). We will not be lulled to sleep nor put to sleep by the political shenanigans of any candidate. We will not be beholden to a particular party, and we will cast our votes for the candidate that publicly supports our platform. Likewise, we will withhold our votes and our dollars from any candidate who does not.

Once and for all, Black people must stop allowing ourselves to be manipulated by politicians; we must stop letting them off so easily; and we must stop giving them our so-called “precious” votes with no reciprocity other than a good feeling. This goes for any candidate running in 2016. Let them all know that we are not little children who simply need a warm hug or a pat on the head to make it all better. That’s what we got in 2008, and Hillary, sure to be followed by others in the race, is getting her simple obligation to Black voters out of the way early. Join the OMCBV&C, if you are conscious, and let’s put an end to this political nonsense. Go to www.iamoneofthemillion.com and register.