Recovering US job market is leaving black men behind

The jobs landscape is bleak for any unemployed American, but for black men it's virtually a desert.

For them, the Great Recession not only led to the largest increase in unemployment for any category of American worker, but it also is pinching a lot longer. About 1 in 6 black men over age 20 in the labor force is jobless – and that number has barely improved since the economic recovery officially began two years ago.

In Detroit, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Min­neap­olis-St. Paul, and several other US cities, Depression-era unemployment rates above 20 percent beset the black community, estimates one economic policy group, citing government data. Moreover, the problem may get worse because city governments, which traditionally employ many African-American men, are laying off workers to cope with budget shortfalls, say experts on black employment.

The change has been dramatic. The jobless rate, 7.5 percent in prerecession days, is now 17 percent – more than double the rate for white men. The ramifications are dramatic: a slide out of the middle class; greater dependence on public assistance; new strain on families, including the challenge of meeting mortgage or child-support payments; and more homelessness.

US Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D) of Mis­souri, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, sees a long-term travesty for the whole nation if intervention is not redoubled to address the scourge of black unemployment. "The failure of this nation to address this problem will lead to another 25 years of problems in this country based on race," he says in a phone interview. "We ignore this crisis at our national peril – on the agenda are poverty, medical problems, crime, you name it."

Black men find it harder to land jobs for many reasons. Competition is fierce – in June, 4.7 unemployed job seekers for every opening – and a single blemish on a résumé can mean an employer will choose someone else. Among other hurdles for African-American men:

•A disproportionate number have criminal records. Black men are incarcerated at more than six times the rate of white men and 2.6 times the rate of His­panic men, reports Human Rights Watch.

•Fewer have college degrees, which are a big bonus in the job market. Among men, 17.9 percent of blacks over 25 have college degrees, compared with 34.2 percent of whites, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

•Semiskilled jobs and unskilled jobs, which are often filled by those without a college education, are on the decline.

•Federal spending is likely to shrink, including funding for programs aimed at reducing black joblessness.

•Racism persists in hiring and firing despite antidiscrimination laws, studies show.

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