Research Associate, Former Director of the Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program
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December 18, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | BlogThis post originally appeared on the Huffington Post. Since the start of the Great Recession in 2007, Native American employment has been lowest in the regions where white employment has been highest.
December 17, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Briefing PaperDespite making some strides in recovering from a long history of subjugation, American Indians still suffer economically. In particular, they have employment rates far below those of whites, both in the country overall and at the state level.
December 17, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Issue BriefThe Great Recession has kept the American Indian unemployment rate above 10 percent for five years. The American Indian unemployment situation is particularly bad in the Midwest, Northern Plains, and Southwest.
Native Americans Are Less Likely to Be Employed Than Whites in Nearly Every State: The Native American-White Jobs Gap Varies by State from 32.7 Percentage Points to 5.1 Percentage Points
November 20, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Economic SnapshotNative Americans are less likely to be employed than whites nationally and in nearly every state. But the size of the jobs gap varies tremendously.
October 29, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Economic SnapshotFour years after the official end of the Great Recession, Native Americans are still experiencing unemployment rates in the double digits.
August 27, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | CommentaryThis August will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a seminal moment for the civil rights movement.
July 29, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | BlogIn a recent New York Times interview, president Obama reminded readers that “there was a massive economic component” to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
African Americans are still concentrated in neighborhoods with high poverty and still lack full access to decent housing
July 22, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Economic SnapshotResidential segregation and ongoing poverty has left African Americans in some of the least desirable housing in some of the lowest-resourced communities in America.
June 19, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Economic SnapshotAugust 28 will mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the setting of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
June 18, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | ReportThe Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Fifty years later, the hard economic goals of the march, critical to transforming the life opportunities of African Americans, have not been fully achieved.
May 2, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Economic SnapshotMany people assume that all Asian Americans are doing well economically. However, according to the official poverty rate for 2011 from the U.S.
March 21, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | CommentaryThis commentary originally appeared on the Huffington Post. Wealth — what we own minus what we owe — matters a great deal for families’ economic success.
March 14, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Issue BriefLarge infrastructure projects would provide a substantial share of jobs for Latinos and African Americans, and wisely chosen projects could also begin to decrease persistent Hispanic-white and black-white unemployment gaps.
March 5, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | BlogIn the fourth quarter of last year, Nevada and California had the highest Asian American unemployment rates of the ten states with sufficient Asian American data for analysis.
Unemployment rates are projected to remain high for whites, Latinos, and African Americans throughout 2013
February 25, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Issue BriefThe unemployment forecast for 2013 is stagnation: For whites, Latinos, and African Americans, year-end 2013 unemployment projections show essentially no improvement from the high levels that prevailed at the end of 2012.
December 19, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogAs my colleagues have shown, the “chained” cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security being discussed between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner is a cut to benefits.
December 10, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogThis month, the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) Monthly Latino Unemployment Report focuses on the important issue of underemployment. “Underemployment,” as The State of Working America states, is “a more comprehensive measure of slack in the labor market than unemployment.” The book goes on: Underemployment includes workers who meet the official definition of unemployment as well as: 1) those who are working part time but want and are available to work full time (“involuntary” part timers), and 2) those who want and are available to work and have looked for work in the last year but have given up actively seeking work (“marginally attached” workers).
December 7, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogAmong the U.S.-born, black women had the strongest birth-rate decline from 1990 to 2010, according to a recent report from Pew Social and Demographic Trends.
November 9, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogThis piece originally appeared on Huffington Post The American public has repeatedly indicated that the health of the economy is their biggest concern.
October 5, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogOn Sept. 26, the Economic Policy Institute sponsored a Congressional Briefing on how transportation infrastructure, transportation jobs, and public transit can provide good jobs for black men.
September 12, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogAlthough Hispanic and black families have the highest poverty rates of the major racial and ethnic minorities, the latest poverty data holds some positive news.
August 8, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogFor-profit colleges prey on the poorest students while generating a great deal of wealth to shareholders, owners, and CEOs. Figure A shows that in 2008, the median family income of students attending for-profit colleges was $22,932.
August 7, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogFor-profit colleges tend to enroll students who are not familiar with traditional higher education. They are more likely to be low-income, African American or Latino.
August 2, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Economic SnapshotThe Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions released a report this week on how many for-profit colleges prey on the most vulnerable students while enriching their shareholders, owners, and CEOs.
July 24, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Analysis and OpinionA crumbling infrastructure is bad for business. Just ask business owners in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. Recently, a water main broke in downtown Baltimore and shut down streets and caused major traffic delays. A number of businesses were forced to close, and those near the break that remained open saw fewer customers.
July 2, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogImagine going to a fast-food restaurant and unknowingly consuming food contaminated with toxic chemicals. Or buying cooking oil laden with carcinogens.
July 2, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Issue BriefIn 2011, the nationwide African American unemployment rate stood at 15.9 percent—and in several of the country's large metropolitan areas, the black unemployment rate was significantly higher. The Las Vegas and Los Angeles metropolitan areas had the highest black unemployment rates, at 22.6 percent and 21.1 percent, respectively.
July 2, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Issue BriefIn 2011, the nationwide Hispanic unemployment rate stood at 11.5 percent—and in several of the country's large metropolitan areas, the Hispanic unemployment rate was significantly higher. With a Hispanic unemployment rate of 23.3 percent, the Providence, R.I., metro area had the highest rate in 2011 of all metro areas examined.
June 20, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogThe Federal Reserve’s report on family wealth released last Monday illustrates how severely the Great Recession has hurt middle-class families. Median family net worth (assets minus debt) fell to levels not experienced since 1992.
June 4, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | BlogWashington Post columnist Richard Cohen recently illustrated how much overt racial bigotry against blacks has been reduced. He used the case of Wesley A.