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Young Black Men Hit Hardest By Recession

Demographic's unemployment reaches Depression-era levels

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 24, 2009 6:21 AM CST

(Newser) – The recession has sent the unemployment rate among young black men soaring to rates not seen since the Great Depression. The jobless rate among black males aged 16 to 24 hit 34.5% last month, more than triple the rate for the general population. The demographic has been especially hit by massive job losses in the manufacturing, construction, and retail sectors, the Washington Post reports.

The recession has dealt a disproportionately heavy blow to the employment chances of young workers of all ages, but statistics show that race plays a bigger role in unemployment than age, income, or even education levels. Experts warn that if the government doesn't deal with the problem of unemployment and underemployment in the black community, it should expect long-lasting consequences as jobless teens and 20-somethings—even college grads—struggle for years to catch up financially.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

In this July 2, 2009 file photo, Hector Riser uses a computer to do a job search at the New York State Department of Labor in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

Terrell Collins, of Detroit pauses while checking employment on a laptop comuter while attending a job fair in Livonia, Mich. earlier this month. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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Increased involvement in the underground economy, criminal activity, increased poverty, homelessness and teen pregnancy are the things I worry about if we continue to see more years of high unemployment. - Sociologist Algernon Austin

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 28 comments

mehrheit

Nov 26, 2009 7:52 AM CST

@Someone: A bit like chickens and eggs, no? Which comes first - the motivator parent or the child that was motivated?

mehrheit

Nov 26, 2009 7:51 AM CST

To sum up, for the tl/dr people (it is NEWSER, after all): "...[Most] people living relatively comfortable lives in America[...]aren't particularly motivated or driven. Why have [inner-city blacks] had to work so hard in order to get what many unmotivated and generally lazy [white] people have? ...It's unfair and counterproductive to wave your finger at ordinary people with big problems because they aren't extraordinarily capable of dealing with them.

ProfessorCold

Nov 25, 2009 8:10 AM CST

tl; dr

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discrimination • recession • unemployment • African-Americans • recession depression • unemployment rate

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Young Black Men Hit Hardest By Recession