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What You Need to Know About the State of Urban Jobs!
National Urban League’s State of Urban Jobs site at iamempowered.com gives you everything you need to know about jobs including the monthly employment report with stats for Blacks, Whites and Latinos, the National Urban League’s position on employment and job creation policy, the facts about how investing in job creation is the best strategy for reducing the deficit, as well as resume writing tips and job listings. Click here to view and stay abreast of the latest developments.
Highlights of the January 2012 Employment Report
The economy added a net of 243,000 jobs in January, making it the 14th consecutive month of job growth. Private sector job growth (excludes government losses) was 257,000, signaling positive news for the U.S labor market and economy. The number of unemployed people declined to 12.8 million in January as 508,000 people entered the labor force.
Private sector job growth was widespread across most major industries with the highest growth in professional and business services (+70,000), manufacturing (+50,000), leisure & hospitality (+44,000), health care (+31,000) and construction (+21,000). Job losses occurred in information (-13,000), federal government (-6,000) and local government (-11,000).
The unemployment rate for January declined to 8.3% (down from 9.1% last January). There was a sizable drop in the black unemployment rate – down to 13.6% from 15.8% in December. This reflects a long-awaited improvement in the black unemployment rate given that the rate hovered near 16% for most of 2011, despite declines in both the white and Latino rates of employment. The unemployment rate for black men decreased to 12.7% (from 15.7%); for black women, it decreased to 12.6% (from 13.9%). The unemployment rate for whites remained essentially the same at 7.4% (from 7.5%) as did the Hispanic rate at 10.5% (from 11.0%). Rates of teen unemployment were 21.1% for whites (from 20.3%), 38.5% for African-Americans (from 42.1%) and 24.9% for Latinos (from 26.3%, not seasonally adjusted). The rate of underemployment (including the unemployed, marginally attached and those working part-time for economic reasons) was 15.1% (from 15.2%). The ranks of long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.5 million or 42.9% of all unemployed.
Click here to read NUL's January 2012 Employment report. Also, available from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), the January 2012 edition of its state-by-state snapshots which detail each individual state’s economic progress for the previous month. For more information on state and regional unemployment statistics for December 2011 (latest available), click here. For more information on metropolitan area unemployment statistics for December 2011 (latest available), click here.
Join us Friday, February 3, 2012 from 2-3pm EST for a live online chat hosted by Dr. Valerie Rawlston Wilson, economist at the National Urban League, to discuss how specific job creation policies from President Obama's An America Built to Last speech align with the National Urban League 8-Point Plan to Educate, Employ and Empower.
Join the Jobs Chat Below and Get Answers Now!
About Dr. Valerie Wilson
Dr. Valerie Rawlston Wilson is an economist and Vice President of Research at the National Urban League Policy Institute where she is responsible for planning and directing the Policy Institute’s Research Agenda. She is one of the primary architects of the National Urban League’s Plan for Putting Americans Back to Work, a bold 6-point job creation plan for urban America. Dr. Wilson has served as Managing Editor and Associate Editor of The State of Black America report and is staff director and ex-officio member of the National Urban League President’s Council of Economic Advisors, designed to assist the League in shaping national economic policy. Her fields of specialization include labor economics, economics of higher education, poverty and racial inequality. Dr. Wilson earned a PhD in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
About the State of Urban Jobs
The National Urban League’s State of Urban Jobs website was launched in 2010 by Iamempowered.com and the National Urban League’s Policy Institute, to bring the Institute’s esteemed research, policy analysis and publications online. Through such activities as the annual Legislative Policy Conference and the publication of The State of Black America the Policy Institute provides a foundation from which to advocate on behalf of African Americans and urban communities. The Institute’s extensive collection of reports, fact sheets and publications is made available in one location for scholars, policy analysts, policymakers and advocacy groups, along with tools and information for entrepreneurs, job seekers, and those seeking information on the emerging green economy.
