Black unemployment tops 10%

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The federal government reported September 5 that the Black jobless rate is now 10.6 percent, over four percentage points higher than the nation’s overall employment rate of 6.1 percent. “African American unemployment over the past year has shot up by 2.9 percentage points, the largest one-year increase in 24 years,” said Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in a released statement. He outlined an Emergency Economic Plan that includes cutting taxes for 95 percent of working families; establishing a $25 billion fund to offset any state and local cuts in health, education and housing; and providing a $25 billion job and growth fund to replenish the federal highway trust fund, which pays for road and bridge maintenance. The MSR contacted the John McCain campaign office for more specifics on addressing the high Black unemployment rate, but we received no response to our request by press time. However, GOP candidate McCain says on his website that he will overhaul unemployment insurance and cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 25 percent. Continue Reading

Economic snapshot for September 2008

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The labor market recession is deepening and continues to threaten economic growth. Eight months of job losses were paired this month with an increase in the unemployment rate to its highest level in five years. This year’s job losses follow a very weak labor market that has left families woefully and inadequately prepared for the current crisis. Employment growth has been the weakest since the Great Depression, wages have been flat, and benefits have been declining since this business cycle started in March 2001. At the same time, prices have risen for many items. This combination of higher prices and less income has driven families deeper into debt. Continue Reading

Minnesota loses more jobs

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Minnesota’s unemployment rate jumped up a half percent from June to July, as the state lost 8,600 jobs. The state’s July unemployment rate is 5.8%, higher than the national average of 5.7%. The July data marked a continuation of Minnesota’s declining performance. Minnesota’s unemployment rate is no longer below the national average. When Governor Pawlenty took office in January 2003, his “no new tax” conservative public policy agenda was supposed to bolster the state’s economy and create more jobs. Continue Reading

Report: Fewer minorities employed by state compared with a decade ago

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Minnesota state agencies barely employ more minorities now than they did in 1997 and a number of departments are showing a decline despite the steady growth of populations of color statewide, according to a new report by the Minnesota State Affirmative Action Association (MSAAA). Further, it appears that the bulk of that slippage has occurred since Gov. Tim Pawlenty took office in early 2003 for reasons that are unclear, according to the 25-page report.Some affirmative action advocates argue that the state of affairs is the result of lackadaisical attitudes toward the related laws, coupled with an unwieldy computerized hiring system — assertions that some state officials deny. Many of the state’s affirmative mandates simply aren’t followed or have makeshift solutions while some statutes are crafted in such a way that they’re impossible to fulfill, the MSAAA report explains. It points out shortcomings such as the absence of a full-time diversity director to oversee affirmative action and equal opportunity efforts, a required position that was cut early in the Pawlenty Administration, with some of those duties being heaped onto an employee relations staffer. Additionally, each of the 1,000-plus departments are supposed to have a diversity point-person, but a good chunk of them don’t and in many cases that role has been reduced. Continue Reading