Analysis Economy: peeking behind upbeat headlines
By ARTHUR JONES
NCR Staff
More black youth gain jobs; more inner cities crumble. The
complexities of the larger U.S. economic picture continue to bedevil those who
look beyond Wall Street, the software billionaires and the current unemployment
rate of 4.3 percent (April).
Two examples of the difficulty of balancing the picture are Andrew
Cuomos recent report, Now is the Time: Places Left Behind in the
New Economy, and a New York Times May 23 article, Booming
Job Market Draws Young Black Men into Fold.
Cuomo, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, reveals that
despite 4.3 percent unemployment, in one in six central cities unemployment is
50 percent or more above the national average. But what HUDs study also
reveals is that in 72 U.S. cities -- from the largest, such as Los Angeles and
New York, to small ones such as Anniston, Ala., and Merced, Calif. -- almost a
third of the inhabitants live in poverty.
When headlines butt against headlines, going behind them is
essential.
The Times article was based on research by Harvard
Professor Richard B. Freeman and William and Mary College Professor William M.
Rodgers III, whose studies showed:
In 14 areas where unemployment has been below 4 percent since 1992
(Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Rochester, Minn.; Des Moines, Iowa), the percentage of
employed young, less-educated black men has jumped from 52 percent to 64
percent.
The jump is impressive.
But viewing the world from the poverty side of the street, rather
than the prosperity side, requires turning the figures around. Then the reality
appears bleaker: The figures mean that in an area (Raleigh-Durham) where
unemployment is currently around 1.5 percent, 36 percent of all young blacks
males remain unemployed.
The article, by Sylvia Nasar with Kirsten B. Mitchell, rightly
depicted the little bits of good news. The nuanced actuality, including
elements in the Times own story, finally suggests a different
situation, one actually not that much improved.
Unchanging, a Bureau of Labor Statistics economist
told NCR, is that in good times and bad, black unemployment
generally is two to two-and-a-half that of whites. Period. As for the
rest, the spokesperson said, the economy is benefiting every
ethnic-racial group, every age group. Literally.
The Times does report that the problems of young
black men are still daunting. Although unemployment among young black men of
all education levels is lower now than at the peak of the 1980s expansion, 17
percent compared with 20 percent, it is more than twice that for young white
men.
The article illustrates its case by interviewing a 19-year-old
black male inner-city high school graduate now working as a $7-an-hour hotel
front-desk clerk as typical of many young blacks who have benefited from
the extended period of low unemployment.
The National Urban Leagues Milton Little offered some other
perspectives to NCR.
Lets look, said Little, at the types of
jobs most people are getting. No benefits, and theyre not necessarily
learning transferable skills -- punctuality and how to respond to supervision.
Theyre not being prepared for the challenging jobs of the next
century.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics spokesperson said that because
unemployment is highest among blacks, during a [worker-short] economic
boom, you will see the bigger change in that sector.
The bureaus figures show that with the national unemployment
rate at 4.3 percent, the unemployment rate for black males was 6.1 percent.
Thats really low, said the bureau spokesperson. For
black women, 6.8 percent, also low, he said. For black teenagers
16-19 -- where unemployment gets up to 40, even 50 percent sometimes --
its down to 28.1 percent, good for black teenagers. That compares to 11.6
percent for white teens -- and theres that two to two-and-a-half times
figure.
I think the storys got two sides, Little,
National Urban League executive vice president, told NCR. Young
people adequately prepared in terms of academic background with some elements
of entry-level job behavior are being helped by a very strong economy. No
question about that.
There are, however, he said, young people
trapped in dysfunctional urban schools, not developing the kind of academic
preparation they need, who dont have any experience in the labor market,
and are still left on the outside looking in as some counterparts get jobs for
the first time.
On the plus side, continued Little, I hope it dispels some
of the prevailing notion that black males are just not reachable, that they
dont want to work.
In the Times story, Harvards Freeman is quoted saying
that the statistics show how critical it is not to give up on these guys.
If you give these kids a break, they come back.
The other thing, said Urban Leagues Little, is that we
just dont know whats going to happen if theres a
downturn. New York City, where the poverty rate is already 23.7 percent,
will be among the first to know.
National Catholic Reporter, June 4,
1999
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