Business

Black Unemployment Rate Headed for Single Digits

Published

12 years ago

January 13, 2015

Valerie Wilson, the director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE) at Economic Policy Institute. (Freddie Allen/NNPA)

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – After three consecutive months of the economy adding more than 25,000 jobs, the Black unemployment rate could dip below 10 percent by mid-2015 if current trends continue, says Valerie Wilson, an economist and director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE) at Economic Policy Institute.

When Wilson analyzed the labor force participate rate, which includes people that currently hold jobs or are looking for work and the employment-population ratio for all workers, she found that Blacks had the biggest increase in both measures from December 2013 to December 2014.

“If the same trends in the labor force participation rate and the decline in the unemployment rate that we saw in 2014 continue into 2015, the Black unemployment rate should get down to the single digits by the middle of this year,” said Wilson.

The Black unemployment rate decreased from 11 percent in November to 10.4 percent in December, and the jobless rate for White workers ticked down 0.1 percent to 4.8 percent in December, according to the latest jobs report by the Labor Department.

The unemployment rate for Black men over 20 years old ticked down from 11.2 percent to 11 percent in December while the unemployment rate for White men fell from 4.6 to 4.4 percent over that period.

The unemployment rate for Black women over 20 years-old slid from 9.5 percent in November to 8.2 percent in December and White women saw their unemployment rate inch down from 4.5 percent to 4.4 percent during the same period.

The Labor Department also revised the number of jobs added in October (261,000) and November (353,000), accounting for an increase of 50,000 jobs.

American workers found jobs in professional and business services, construction, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing in December.

Wilson said that December’s jobs report signals that the prospect of economic recovery in the Black community is pretty strong.

She said, “The African American workforce is benefitting from the job growth that is taking place right now and the longer that continues, the better it’s going to be for those communities.”

Bernard Anderson, a nationally-recognized economist and professor emeritus at the Wharton business school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, agreed.

“Despite the fact that Black people have a higher rate of unemployment and lower income, they remain far more committed to the labor market than White workers on average,” said Anderson.

Anderson said that employment is growing more rapidly now than at any time since the recovery began in 2009. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5 percent in the third quarter of 2014, yet wages have not increased significantly.

“We have an anomalous situation in the labor market where employment is beginning to rise, but earnings are still relatively flat,” explained Anderson. In fact, average hourly earnings for all employees shed a nickel in December.

Anderson observed that wages increased more rapidly during previous recoveries as the unemployment rate fell.

Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a blog post at EPI.org that stagnant wages hurt more than the workers at bottom.

“Since the late 1970s, wages for the bottom 70 percent of earners have been essentially stagnant, and between 2009 and 2013, real wages fell for the entire bottom 90 percent of the wage distribution,” Mishel wrote. “Even wages for the bottom 70 percent of four-year college graduates have been flat since 2000, and wages in most STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) occupations have grown anemically over the past decade.”

Anderson said that when the labor market tightens the unemployment rate comes down, and employers are forced to compete with each other for available labor. That competition often leads to increased wages.

Unionization also plays a critical role in raising the wages of low- and middle-income earners.

Mishel said that unionization leads to higher wages without harming economic efficiency.

“Collective bargaining also leads to a larger share of corporate income going to wages rather than profits; the fact that corporate profits are at historic highs is a reflection, in part, of the current weakness of collective bargaining and the heightened power of corporate owners and managers,” Mishel wrote at EPI.org.

Even though overall union membership has fallen to record lows, according to a 2012 report on unionization by the Labor Center at the University of California at Berkeley, Black workers were union members at higher rates than non-Black workers in the United States.

“In 2012, 13.1% of all Black workers in the United States were union members; 11.0% of non-Black workers in the United States were union members,” the report said. “Among workers in the largest metropolitan areas, Blacks were 42% more likely to belong to unions compared to non-Blacks.”

Wilson said that if workers don’t feel empowered on the job, it’s difficult to go in to negotiate and demand the pay that they deserve.

She said, “As long as workers feel disenfranchised, barring a sudden boom in the economy that drives wages up, I don’t know that it’s going to happen organically.”

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Black History

NABJ Convention Brings Black Journalists, Civic Leaders Together in Atlanta

Among the conference’s most closely watched sessions was Thursday’s Newsmaker Plenary, where House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries discussed the national political climate with NABJ President Errin Haines. Journalist Joy-Ann Reid later led a fireside conversation with legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, creator of the term “intersectionality,” and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the 1619 Project.

Published

2 days ago

August 20, 2026

bpusa-syndication

Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump (left), House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (middle), Rev. Al Sharpton (right) stand at the NABJ conference in Atlanta on Aug. 13 with Elmore and Christine Wonsley, the parents of Nolan Wells, a Black 18-year-old who died July 4th weekend in Mississippi

By Brandon Patterson

ATLANTA—The 52nd National Association of Black Journalists conference brought thousands of journalists, students, media executives and civic leaders to Atlanta Aug. 12-16 for its 2026 Convention and Career Fair, a five-day gathering centered on the theme “Our Revolution: Truth, Power and Black Journalism.”

The plenary also turned toward grief, accountability and justice as the parents of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley, appeared with civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Crump was also the attorney for Trayvon Martin’s, Michael Brown’s, and Tamir Rice’s families. Moderated by journalist Tiffany Cross, the Wells family’s appearance focused on unanswered questions surrounding Nolan’s July death in Mississippi and calls for a federal review.

Reid and journalist Don Lemon also joined a separate discussion with Cross, columnist Michael Harriot and journalist Chandra Whitfield about career disruption, resilience and building independent platforms as Black journalists face layoffs and wider media industry upheaval.

Across generations, attendees exchanged ideas about sustaining careers and serving Black communities.

The gathering reflected NABJ’s long-standing role as both professional home and public forum for Black journalists. For Black-owned legacy newspapers, including ours, the Atlanta convention reinforced a familiar mandate: defend truth, elevate Black voices and connect national debates over politics, justice and media power to the communities most affected.

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Black History

$5 Billion Coliseum Vision Puts Oakland Jobs, Businesses at Center

Reynolds said Black and Brown contractors have historically lacked the bonding, insurance, equipment and staffing required to compete for large contracts because they were denied opportunities to expand.

Published

2 days ago

August 19, 2026

bpusa-syndication

At SpringHill Suites by Marriott Oakland Airport, AASEG President Ray Bobbitt with Loop Capital Vice President Al Dinwiddie, OAACC President Cathy Adams, and Loop Capital President James “Jim” Reynolds, Jr. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

OAKLAND – A sweeping, multiphase redevelopment of the Oakland Coliseum site led by Ray Bobbitt, president of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG), and businessman James “Jim” Reynolds Jr., could eventually attract between $3 billion and $5 billion in investment.

Reynolds said the first phase, estimated at $1 billion to $1.5 billion, could include housing, hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, open space and opportunities for local small businesses.

“We are going to transform the entire area with housing, hotels, with an infrastructure that benefits the community,” Reynolds said.

He also wants to attract major entertainment partners and position Oakland to compete with venues in San Francisco and San Jose. Reynolds said the city already possesses natural assets that other cities spend fortunes trying to create.

“One of the most naturally beautiful cities I’ve ever been to,” he said. “In Oakland, if you do nothing, it’s beautiful naturally: lakes, the mountains, the scenery, the open space, the weather.”

Reynolds’ vision, however, extends beyond buildings and entertainment. He is also focused on which businesses receive contracts and which residents benefit from the jobs and economic opportunities the project creates.

“Why would you build a big business when you know no one was going to hire you to do the job?” Reynolds asked.

He recalled working with longtime business partner Earvin “Magic” Johnson to encourage minority-owned firms to compete for larger contracts. About 1,000 businesses attended one outreach event after receiving assurances that opportunities to serve as prime contractors were real.

Reynolds wants to bring the same approach to Oakland.

“I don’t need goals and set-asides to figure out how to give Black companies a chance to be a prime,” he said.

He also wants Black businesses to move beyond seeking only small portions of projects or subcontracting roles.

At SpringHill Suites by Marriott Oakland Airport, Post News Group Publisher Paul Cobb, OAACC President Cathy Adams, and Loop Capital President James "Jim" Reynolds, Jr. Photo by Carla Thomas. — At SpringHill Suites by Marriott Oakland Airport, Post News Group Publisher Paul Cobb, OAACC President Cathy Adams, and Loop Capital President James “Jim” Reynolds, Jr. Photo by Carla Thomas.

“When we run the concessions, we pick who has a concession,” Reynolds said, citing partnerships involving Johnson, LL Cool J and Stephen A. Smith.

The same principle should apply to construction, entrepreneurship and workforce development, he said.

“Job training and opportunities to have Blacks lead something like this matter,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds also wants young Oakland residents connected to the jobs and career pathways created by the redevelopment.

“They’re going to have jobs, job training, and opportunities to work,” Reynolds said.

He rejects assumptions that Black youth and Black-owned companies cannot manage major responsibilities.

“I’m not going to sit here like others who have been in positions like this and doubt that Black people can do certain things,” Reynolds said.

For Reynolds and Bobbitt, the Coliseum redevelopment is an opportunity to create more than a replacement for the professional sports teams Oakland lost. Bobbitt contributes deep Oakland roots, community relationships and years of persistence, while Reynolds brings capital-market experience, global business relationships and a record of structuring enormous transactions.

Together, they envision a destination that attracts visitors while creating jobs, businesses and ownership opportunities for Oakland residents.

“Thank you, Jim, for believing in Oakland and investing,” Bobbitt said.

CEO of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce Cathy Adams, who wrote a letter of support for AASEG at a time when many doubted the feasibility of their goals, said the Coliseum area development plan will become the example of how Black-owned businesses and contractors can help close the disparity gap in Oakland.

Next week, Part 2: Len Turner and local business owners can benefit.