Unemployment

RECENT POSTS

October 6, 2011 | 12:13 PM | By

Battling Unemployment Among D.C.’s Low-Income, Black Youth

Many of D.C.’s young people who live way below the poverty line, aren’t in school or looking for work are black, a new report finds.

Researchers at The Brookings Institution examined these disparities in an effort to propose some solutions. About 28,000 D.C. residents aged 16 to 24 lack a bachelor’s degree and live 200 percent below the poverty line. And 22,000 of those young people are black.

Low-income D.C. black youth lacking bachelor’s degrees

The Brookings folks propose a few solutions, and among them is abandoning the “college for all approach.” But, as they note, there is a history of discrimination when it comes to who has been deemed worthy of higher education (emphasis mine):

Integrating employment and occupational skills into the high school and post-secondary curricula is often disparaged, with career and technical education (previously known as vocational education) seen as a dumping ground for students not deemed “college-ready.” The legacy of tracking, segregation, and discrimination in the educational system certainly provides support for that view— education can be a vehicle for upward mobility but it can also perpetuate inequality based on race and class.

Here are a few more recommendations in the report:

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Education, The People, Race and Class, Unemployment
October 3, 2011 | 11:26 AM | By

DC Circulator Starts Traveling East of the River

Wayan Vota / Flickr

DC Circulator, the inexpensive, reliable and quick way of getting around the city, made its first trip east of the Anacostia River today. The new line travels from the Potomac Avenue Metro to Skyland via Barracks Row.

Getting across the Anacostia River to where most of the city’s jobs are located can be a time-consuming or expensive undertaking. That can be a particular challenge in Ward 8, where 20 percent of people earn less than $10,000 a year. Circulator trips cost a dollar and buses arrive every 10 minutes between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The D.C. Department of Transportation was able to expand across the river after canceling the Convention Center-SW Waterfront route due to low ridership.

DDOT

The new Potomac Ave. Metro - Skyland Circulator route is in orange.

FILED UNDER: Public Transportation, DC Circulator, Unemployment, Ward 8
September 23, 2011 | 9:00 AM | By

Video: Can a TEDTalks-Like Event Boost Ward 8 Employment?

William Atkins / Courtesy of The George Washington University

George Washington University's School of Business dean Doug Guthrie talks (using a wireless mic) about how international investment can boost job creation in Ward 8.

There’s a serious unemployment divide in the District. Some areas have jobless rates as low as 3 percent, and others — like mostly black Ward 8 — have rates as low as 20 percent.

So what’s needed to boost employment in Ward 8? A jobs czar? Bridges and more development? How about having international experts and local activists talk about innovative, new ideas to spur job creation? You know, kind of like TEDTalks, but with a Ward 8 twist.

That’s kind of the idea behind the Major Projects Lab: Ward 8‘s job summit, the result of a partnership between The George Washington University’s School of Business and the Washington, DC Economic Partnership. The summit, held Tuesday at the university’s Foggy Bottom campus, focused on job creation in Ward 8.

Speakers didn’t delve deeply into the “complex social pathologies” that exacerbate and create unemployment disparities — literacy, adult male incarceration, teen pregnancy — because, as WDCEP’s president Steve Moore said, “all it does is solidify the thinking that we [already] have about how to go forward and how we think about economic development change. It seems like it justifies programs that have existed already and haven’t been all that damn successful.”

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Around the City, George Washington University, Jobs, Unemployment, Ward 8
September 19, 2011 | 4:06 PM | By

Does D.C. Need a Jobs Czar?

Mladen Antonov / AFP/Getty

Unemployment has reached a “nearly record high” in the District — it’s now at 11.1 percent — and lawmakers and experts are scrambling to figure out ways to tackle the problem.

So what about a jobs czar? That’s what D.C. Councilman Vincent Orange (At-large) will be proposing when he introduces legislation Tuesday to create such an office.

According to Orange’s press release, the jobs czar’s primary role would be to “develop a workforce that can be connected to jobs coming on line within the District of Columbia.” The jobs czar would also be responsible for ensuring compliance with first source employment agreements, which guarantees D.C. residents get priority in hiring for certain jobs. That’s been a particularly sore issue east of the Anacostia River, where two major development projects have been criticized for not hiring enough District residents.

So, tell us: do you think a jobs czar will help alleviate the District’s unemployment divide?

FILED UNDER: Government, Unemployment
September 14, 2011 | 4:24 PM | By

Can a Bridge Fix D.C.’s Unemployment Divide?

DDOT / Flickr

The current 11th Street Bridge will be replaced with three spans.

The divide between communities east and west of the Anacostia River is as tangible as the river itself. So can the way to bridge that divide be as tangible as, well, a bridge?

Enter the 11th Street Bridge Project, a massive $300 million reconstruction effort that will provide a faster connection between Ward 8, where unemployment rates have reached nearly Depression-era levels, and portions of the city with lots of jobs.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised the project, saying it’s an example of how public construction puts Americans to work. (So far, 380 have been employed through the project.) Mayor Vincent Gray said the bridge will help chip away at the city’s high unemployment. The bridge jobs themselves aren’t all going to Ward 8 residents, an issue that’s sparked protests, much like ones at St. Elizabeth’s, another Ward 8 redevelopment project. But even if redevelopment construction jobs go to people in affected neighborhoods, they aren’t a permanent solution to high unemployment.

One way to address high and uneven unemployment is improving transit options. As it stands now, getting across the Anacostia River to where most of the city’s jobs are located can be a long or costly undertaking, and there are some fixes in the works. DC Circulator, a cheap and quick way to get around, will start running buses across the Anacostia in October. Bike advocates are encouraging residents to explore cycling as a low-cost and more reliable way to commute. And despite past low usage, Capital Bikeshare has installed more stations in Wards 7 and 8 to improve access. And then there’s the 11th Street Bridge.

But a bridge alone won’t be enough to cross D.C.’s unemployment divide. Experts say better job training programs and education are also needed. It’s just that improving those things is more complicated and time consuming than building a bridge.

FILED UNDER: Public Transportation, Redevelopment, Unemployment
September 12, 2011 | 3:04 PM | By

Jobs Bill and D.C: How Locals Could Benefit from Obama’s Plan

Bill Pugliano / Getty Images

President Barack Obama in Detroit over Labor Day delivered a speech about creating jobs. He unveiled his jobs plan three days later.

While President Barack Obama is busy selling his jobs bill, D.C. could certainly use some help. The District faces an unemployment rate higher than the national average, and it’s at Depression era levels in the predominately poor and black wards of the city.

Here’s what may be in store for D.C., according to the White House, which has released state-specific provisions of the $447 billion bill:

  • Extending unemployment insurance for 5,500 District residents.
  • The establishment of the Pathways to Work fund to train and place low-income residents. It could benefit up to 400 adults and 1,400 youth in D.C.
  • Retaining or hiring 500 teachers and first responders using $45.1 million.
  • A possible $20 million to rehabilitate foreclosed and vacant District homes (which are concentrated in Wards 5, 7 and 8).

All of this is in addition to plans to cut business payroll taxes, intended to encourage hiring, and the infusion of $387 million to fund D.C. transit projects.

But before you get too worked up, keep in mind that the bill as it stands might not get passed. The White House wants the entire bill to get congressional approval, while Republican leaders have signaled they would support parts of the plan.

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Education, Government, Public Transportation, Obama Jobs Bill, Unemployment
September 7, 2011 | 11:38 AM | By

D.C.’s Unemployment Divide and How to Fix It

Brenda Gottsabend / Flickr

The unemployment rate in D.C. is higher than the national average, but as Metro Connection’s Sabri Ben-Achour reports, the pain isn’t being felt evenly along racial and class lines. He recently spoke with economist Benjamin Orr of the Brookings Institution about the imbalance and ways to fix it:

“Ward 7 is, based on some calculations I’ve done, at 22 percent unemployment rate, which is actually now higher than the unemployment rate in Ward 8, which is at about 20 percent,” Orr says. “This is practically depression era levels of unemployment.”

In Ward 3, Orr says, unemployment is 4 percent.

“That’s a significant divide,” Orr says. “That’s a completely different reality for those two wards.”

Wards 7 and 8 are majority black with high numbers of low-income residents; Ward 3 is mostly white and wealthy. Orr goes on to say long term solutions to the employment divide include improving education, access to transportation and job training programs. You can listen to the entire segment here.

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Metro Connection, Unemployment
August 10, 2011 | 9:00 AM | By

Job Seekers Flock to Annual Fair

An annual D.C. employment fair drew one of its biggest crowds Tuesday as the District faces an unemployment rate that is higher than the national average.

“This turnout breaks my heart,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who hosted the 14th annual fair. “This is a record I wasn’t out to break.”

Last year, about 3,500 people attended Norton’s fair. This year, nearly 4,100 District residents came. About 500 people waited for doors to open at 11 a.m. By noon, a large line of job seekers weaved throughout the Convention Center, from the entrance, down escalators and wrapped around long hallways.

Unemployment in the District is uneven; jobless rates are higher than 20 percent in predominately black and low-income Ward 8, while it’s slight above 3 percent in affluent Ward 3 [PDF].

“The disparity has to be gotten rid of in the District,” Norton said. “The only good jobs available in the government or private sector are upscale jobs. If you don’t have at least a year or two of college, you’re doomed.”

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: The People, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Unemployment
July 22, 2011 | 2:18 PM | By

Unemployment Up In D.C.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

The latest job numbers are out today, and it’s not looking good for the District: the June unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percent.

Unemployment citywide was 10.4 percent in June, higher than nearby states. Maryland’s June rate was 8 percent, while Virginia’s was 6 percent. Nationally, unemployment is 9.2 percent.

Even as the citywide rate increases, the rate remains quite low in some neighborhoods. In Ward 3, the May unadjusted unemployment rate was almost 3 percent. But it was as high as nearly 25 percent in wards east of the Anacostia River, according to the D.C. Office of Labor Market Research and Information.

 

FILED UNDER: The People, Unemployment
July 19, 2011 | 4:37 PM | By

The Unemployed Cutting Corners in their Diets

pointnshoot / Flickr

Higher calorie foods tend to be cheaper, experts say.

Eating healthy can be a matter of having access to stores, but it’s also about having enough money to buy healthy food and having the time to cook it. And as the economy has worsened, more people are eating unhealthy foods this year than last.

Given those factors comes this article from Huffington Post’s Janell Ross about unhealthy eating and the disproportionately high rate of black unemployment. She writes that since housing costs tend to be fixed, many underemployed and unemployed people save money by eating cheaper and unhealthy foods. She speaks to a Michele Washington, a college-educated single mom originally from Atlanta, who moved into her sister’s Harlem apartment and holds a part-time job. Washington used to cook dinners for her son, Monty. Now, they frequent McDonald’s:

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: The People, Black Unemployment, Food, Unemployment