Dr. Algernon Austin speaks in Minneapolis on the challenges facing black workers

Dr. Algernon Austin spoke in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 6, 2011 on the challenges facing black workers in finding employment. He delivered the keynote address for the event “Closing the Disparity Gap: Recognizing & Engaging Diverse Talent.” Above he is pictured with fellow presenters. From left to right, they are Keswic Joiner, director of Risk Management for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; Velma Korbel, director of the Department of Civil Rights for the City of Minneapolis; Algernon Austin, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute; Robin Hickman, executive producer of Soultouch Productions; Joseph Ellis, senior vice president for Wealth Management at Wells Fargo; and Roxanne Givens, founder of the Minnesota African American Museum and Cultural Center.

Two Angles on the Black Jobs Crisis

Few Jobs for Black Teens

In 2009, teens from poor families were less likely to find work than their middle-class peers. Poor African American teens, however, were the worst off: Only 20% were able to find work, compared with 31% of poor Hispanic teens and 36% of poor white teens. In fact, middle-class African American teens were only slightly more likely to find work than poor white teens.

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High Unemployment for Married Black Men

In 2010, African-American husbands were 71 percent more likely to be unemployed than their African-American wives and nearly twice as likely as husbands in white couples to be unemployed.

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