The economy is s
reportedly improving, according to the rhetoric presented by President Barack Obama, but is it? According to figures just released by the Bureau of Labor it may be, but not for African American youth. According to statistics, the unemployment rate for African American teenagers is approximately 50 percent.
This finding has major economic and social ramifications given that the unemployment rate for this parameter of the population has steadily grown every month since September last year. At that time, the unemployment rate for African American teenagers was 40.7 percent.
If this figure is accurate, it means that almost one third of a million individuals who are African American and between the ages of 16 and 19 are currently unemployed. It is estimated that more than 16 percent or 2.8 millions African Americans across the United States are currently unemployed. This figure has also increased since September 2009 from 15.3 percent.
That rate climbs even higher to over 70 percent if we include individuals who have stopped looking for work. Statistics also show that white teenage unemployment is at 23.4 percent or roughly 1.12 million individuals.
At the present, neither political party is offering any solutions to the issue and tend to ignore it as with most concerns confronting the African American community. Unfortunately, without any consistent opportunities to participate in American society, many young people may seek out alternative ways of making a living that may be harmful to society and destructive to themselves.
Rates this high may be leading to a future that is detrimental for the African American community as a whole, if no serious efforts are made to address workforce development programs that serve the needs of black workers and lead them to jobs in higher paying sectors of American industry. –torrance stephens, ph.d.
