Looking at the want ads in the Sunday paper is a lot tougher on the nation’s African-American community, according to the latest Bureau of Labor statistics figures which confirm higher than average unemployment for President Obama’s most loyal voting base.
The unemployment rate for black Americans remains just more than 16 percent; while their white counterparts hover around the 8 percent mark. The numbers don’t get any easier for African Americans when they compare to Latinos whose unemployment rate is 11.8 percent or Asians who enjoy the lowest joblessness of 6.4 percent.
The stubborn recession has left many job seekers crushed while searching for a good, fulltime job and as long as the nation’s joblessness holds firm, the president will have a tough time campaigning for his reelection.
Another problem job seekers face is under-employment.
A new Gallup year-long survey chart showed how unemployment and underemployment have remained within a narrow band. Unemployment, according to Gallup, has remained about 10 percent and underemployment persists near 20 percent.
Making matters worse is a recent story in The New York Times, “Only One in Four Young Black Men in New York City Have a Job.”