This Issue Brief, one of a series on African American employment that the Joint Center will publish in the coming months, is also Part 1 of a larger Joint Center report entitled, “Building a Healthy Economy: Creating Employment Opportunity and Equity.” This brief examines and analyzes data from the 25 states with substantial African American populations. Subsequent briefs will focus on data from the 18 cities with African American mayors and African American populations over 100,000 and on industries and occupations with significant employment opportunities for African Americans. Additional elements of the report will include components on emerging health sector employment opportunities as a result of the Affordable Care Act, green jobs related to energy efficiency, and the Internet’s impact on job search.

For more detailed information on the 25 states included in this study, download the appendix.

After receiving poor marks for his performance in his nationally-televised debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama received a much-needed boost from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report showing that unemployment fell to 7.8 percent in September, the lowest it has been in nearly four years.

The September report released last week is significant because, unlike in previous months, the rate did not drop because “discouraged workers” dropped out of the labor force.

Not all of the news was encouraging. Even though the unemployment rate for blacks dropped to 13.4 percent in September from 14.1 percent in August, it remained relatively flat for black men (14.2 percent in September vs. 14.3 percent in August).

The unemployment rate for white men decreased from 6.8 in August to 6.6 percent in September. The jobless rate for white women ticked down two-tenths in September to 6.3 percent. Black women saw the biggest decrease in the unemployment rate among adults, falling from 12 percent in August to 10.9 percent in September.

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“It’s a very mixed picture. I wouldn’t say that we’ve turned the corner, but I would say that unemployment rate is down some, but we still have a large amount of people working part-time for economic reasons,” said Wilhemina Leigh, senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a public policy think tank.

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For many black men, the same set of circumstances that will prevent them from voting in the November 6 presidential election also block their ability to earn a living wage.

“A felony conviction is like an economic death sentence,” said David Bositis, a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

The number and types of jobs are significantly reduced for ex-felons, said Bositis. Even though some companies have special programs to help ex-offenders return to the job market, they can’t keep pace in some southern states where 20 percent of blacks have prior felony convictions.

Read more at The Charlotte Post.

The glass ceiling will shatter when the practices that support it have been eliminated from labor market hiring, firing and promotion decisions. Since women’s lack of educational credentials is seldom a part of this, the increased pursuit of higher education by young women in this dour economy is unlikely — by itself — to shatter the ceiling.

Young women and young men are both responding rationally to the current economic environment in which being previously unemployed puts one out of the running for many available jobs. Being enrolled in school is not considered being unemployed, so young women are right to think they may have better job prospects by the time they finish school and when the economy has improved.

Read more at The New York Times.

On November 18, I participated in the inaugural event for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ launch of its Institute on Civic Engagement and Governance. I had the opportunity to participate on a plenary panel to discuss the challenges and effects of inequality on public policy with Professor William Darity, from Duke University.  I reflected on President Obama’s unique record in handling record levels of income inequality.

Data from 2010 on income and poverty from the US Census Bureau highlights that the bottom 20 percent of households in America earn only 3.3 percent of total income in the US.  The next quintile, the lower-middle income, earns 8.5 percent of the total, and the middle quintile, the mathematical middle-class, earns 14.6 percent.  This means that the poor, and the middle class and lower-middle class earn a combined 26.4 percent of US income.  That is, the bottom six-in-ten of America gets less than three-in-ten of the income.  This results in a disadvantage for the bottom sixty percent and also develops an economic minority.

Read more at The White House Blog.

Conferences held by think tanks are par for the course in Washington, but the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies sponsored an afternoon of plenary sessions that set this effort apart from the pack.   
 
Policy experts, scholars and leaders in business, politics and civil rights gathered at the National Press Club to take part in the Joint Center’s African-American Economic Summit. It featured discussions focusing on ways to address economic inequalities, build an equitable economy in a competitive world, and devise policy solutions so that all Americans can succeed.

Ralph B. Everett, president and CEO of the Joint Center said, “We wanted to put some solutions on the table so people would have something to be hopeful for. It doesn’t feel good to rehash how bad things are so we wanted to give people something to work toward.”

Read more at BET.

Politic365.com’s Charles D. Ellison talks with Dr. Wilhelmina Leigh, Senior Research Associate on Economic Security Issues at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.  Dr. Leigh offers insight in recent job growth proposals outlined by President Obama and what that means in terms of the current economic and political climate.  She also talks about the bi-partisan, bi-cameral debt commission and a recent proposal by Rep. Dan Larson (D-CT) to create a jobs committee.

Politic365.com’s Charles D. Ellison talks with Dr. Wilhelmina Leigh, Senior Research Associate on Economic Security Issues at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.  Dr. Leigh offers insight in recent job growth proposals outlined by President Obama and what that means in terms of the current economic and political climate.  She also talks about the bi-partisan, bi-cameral debt commission and a recent proposal by Rep. Dan Larson (D-CT) to create a jobs committee.

Read more at Politic365.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has scheduled a webinar today to focus on the challenges facing African Americans and other people of color, and particularly their concerns that measures related to the debt ceiling debate could exacerbate already high unemployment and undermine short-term and long-term economic prospects.

Journalists who dial in will have the opportunity to question members of two panels – the first of which will be comprised of a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the White House National Economic Council and leading national economists and will examine the details and projected impact of the negotiated agreement that Congress will vote on.  The second panel will delve further into the agreement’s program reductions on members of vulnerable populations and on both discretionary and entitlement programs that they rely upon.

Making the decision about when to leave the workforce is challenging and complicated, in spite of the existence of retirement income calculators and other tools.

Some people want to “die with their boots on,” while others would prefer to die wearing sandals or running shoes and in some venue other than the workplace. In the best case, workers retire when their productivity diminishes, when there is something to move on to (often another full-time job, part-time work, an expanded avocation, or full-blown leisure), and when resources are available to enable them to make the desired move.

Read more at The New York Times.