Black Unemployment jumps in Jobs Report

African Americans continued to be battered by a high rate of unemployment on the eve of the high-stakes presidential election, as numbers rose in October to 14.3 percent from 13.4 percent in September, the U.S. Department of Labor said on Friday.

More stunning were the statistics for the jobless rate among African-American teens: 40.5 percent, rising from 36.7 percent in September.

The bad news for the African American community occurs against the backdrop of overall good news for the nation. Employers added 171,000 jobs in October, exceeding the expectations of pundits and President Barack Obama?s Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

While both campaigns seized the opportunity to meld the numbers to their benefit, other elected officials who represent African Americans and youth expressed concern about the figures and how they impact their constituents.

One of them was Rep. Danny K. Davis (Ill-D), who reiterated his past position to NewsOne that the disturbing African American unemployment numbers mean that government officials like himself have to invest in job training programs for workers who are increasingly losing work in the public sector. He said that steps need to be taken to help ex-cons obtain jobs. Many of them make up the bulk of the unemployment figures, he said.

?When you look at the stats and see that about 700,000 people come out of jail each year and about half of them are African American men,? Davis said. ?Multiply that by 10 years and you have large numbers of unemployed people.?

Davis went on to say that he is hopeful that the numbers will not have a negative impact on Election Day, though he recently encountered optimism and despair during a recent talk.

?I spoke to a group who felt no sense of hope,? he said about the election and unemployment. ?But there were some who expressed a belief that if they did vote it would create more opportunities. It was encouraging.?

However, Generation Opportunity, one of the largest non-profit, non-partisan organizations in the United States engaging and mobilizing young Americans on the important economic issues facing the nation, was less generous.

Newsone.com

Source: http://www.defendernetwork.com/black-unemployment-jumps-in-jobs-report/

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