Report shows disparities in unemployment between racial groups

An analysis done by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows disparities in unemployment rates between racial groups in 2009, with Latinos and Blacks approaching Depression-like levels in some metro areas.

The report, “Uneven Pain: Unemployment by Metro Area and Race,” was written by EPI researcher Algernon Austin, The report examines unemployment by race in the 50 largest metro areas in the United States.

While the highest metro unemployment rate for whites is 13.8 percent in Detroit, the rate for Latinos is 21.4 percent in Providence, R.I. Detroit and Minneapolis had Black unemployment rates of 20.9 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively. This shows that the economic recession in 2009 has had a greater impact on non-whites.

According to the report, the unemployment rate for Latinos and Blacks exceeded 1.5 times that of whites on average in most of the areas analyzed.

The report concludes that since the hardship of unemployment is not evenly spread across the country, it is important for the American economy to create more job opportunities targeted to areas with high unemployment and that will shore up state and local governments as soon as possible. ♦