Unemployment

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Apr 11 2013

Counting the Cost

Unemployment rates were “little changed” in March 2013; they were either holding steady or dropping by a tenth of a percentage point or so. The unemployment rate dropped from 7.7 to 7.6 percent representing a steady, if painstakingly slow, decrease. This declining unemployment rate was reported with some circumspection because even as the rate dropped, nearly half a million people left the labor market, presumably because they could not find work.

Mar 22 2013

Trade, transportation and utilities sector take biggest hit

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Los Angeles County increased to 10.4 percent in January, up from a revised 10.3 percent in December, the state Employment Development Department announced today.

The 10.4 percent unemployment rate was below the 11.6 percent rate in January 2012, according to the EDD.

In Orange County, where seasonally adjusted numbers were not available, the unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in January.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jul 12 2012

Counting the Cost

The unemployment rate has hovered above 8 percent for several months, most recently holding ground at 8.2 percent; the same as last month.

Meanwhile the African American unemployment rate went up, technically to 14.4 percent, and we all know that means the real rate is even higher—in excess of 25 percent.

Jul 10 2012

UCLA releases new study

About 3.8 million Californians could not afford to consistently feed themselves or their families during the Great Recession, according to a UCLA study released Monday.

Low-income families, households with children and Latinos suffered the greatest so-called food insecurity—multiple occasions in which people had to cut their food intake and experienced hunger, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

Nii-Quartelai Quartey  |   OW Guest Columnist
Nov 24 2011

Initiative to move city money gains new life

Angelenos have had enough.

After receiving billions in taxpayer bailouts—money that was intended to free up capital and get banks lending again—the large corporate banks sat on their hands and their wallets.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”