Black unemployment and Hispanic immigration

Edwin S. Rubenstein:

Blacks are faring worse than they did at a similar stage in the previous recovery at the end of Bush I’s term. Amazingly, thirteen quarters into the "Bush Boom," Black unemployment has risen.

Here are the comparative results for the first 13 quarters of this economic recovery as compiled by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI): ["African Americans in the current recovery," April 6, 2005.]

Total unemployment rate: down 0.2 percentage points now; down 0.4 points in the early 1990s recovery:

White unemployment: down 0.4 points now; down 0.4 points then

Black unemployment: Up 0.8 points now; down 0.6 points then

Black male unemployment: Up 1.4 points now; down 0.7 points then

Black female unemployment: Up 0.3 points now; down 0.5 points then

Black unemployment generally responds to changing economic conditions more quickly than white unemployment, reflecting the over-representation of Blacks in manufacturing and other highly cyclical sectors of the economy. The trend held in the early 1990s. It abruptly ended with Bush II’s recovery.

Why?

EPI lists the usual suspects: a relatively weak demand for labor (i.e., a jobless recovery), the decline of manufacturing; and (it claims) a "labor market [that] still discriminates against minorities, particularly African-American males."

But if racial discrimination is such a factor, why has Hispanic job growth outpaced that of whites? (For example, Hispanics got 60 percent of the new jobs created in March; in the entire Bush II era Hispanic employment has grown 14.3 percent vs. just 0.3 percent for non-Hispanic employment growth.)

In fact, discrimination is the best explanation for persistent Black unemployment - but not the sort of discrimination EPI has in mind.

Arguably the most racist policy in this country for the past quarter century has been immigration policy. The onslaught of poorly educated, mainly Hispanic immigrants has stymied good faith efforts of African Americans to climb up the economic ladder.

News and Blogosphere:

Wages falling for Hispanics