The District’s unemployment rate hit another record high in December, peaking at 12.1 percent, according to new government data released Friday. That means nearly one-out-of-eight DC residents are actively looking for work.
But isn’t the recession over?
According to economists it is, but for many of our neighbors things have not gotten better. Some are having a tougher time than others. According to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute, unemployment in the District among African-Americans is three times that of whites. African American unemployment in the third quarter of 2009 was 17.6 percent, while the white unemployment rate in DC during that time was 5.7 percent.
Disparities between men and women continue to grow as well. In the District, males were unemployed at a rate of 11.3 percent, while women were at 10.8.
These numbers remind us while the effects of the recession are widespread, some groups of residents have been hit especially hard. The new unemployment figures also show that much work needs to be done to put residents back on the road to recovery. Job training and literacy programs will be crucial to the rebound, especially in eastern parts of the city where many African-American live. Yet these programs are often on the chopping block in tough budget times. We need to think about our budget in terms of investments and what will give us the biggest returns in the future. Helping our residents–Black, White, Latino and Asian, male and female, east and west of the Anacostia River ‘ return to work will boost us all.
