Filling the Unemployment Quagmire
NYS Dept. of
Labor’s Preliminary Area Unemployment Rates monthly report for April 2013 puts
the state’s rate at 7.8%, which is the state’s lowest level since March
2009. NYC’s rate (all 5 boroughs) for
April was 7.7%. This is down from 8.5%
since the preceding month. These figures
strongly suggest that the local economy is bouncing back from the “Great
Recession”.
Digging deeper
reveals where high unemployment persists.
The Bronx County’s rate is 10.5% and Kings County’s is 8.4%, followed by
Queens, Richmond County, and New York County at 6.9%, 6.7%, and 6.5%,
respectively.
Census 2010 and
historic residential patterns show that the Bronx is the home of most Hispanics
and Brooklyn having the highest number of blacks in the City. Could it be that NYC blacks and Hispanics
experience higher unemployment than other New Yorkers? Unfortunately, this is the case.
April 2013
figures for NYC Human Resources Administration’s three cash assistance programs
count 363,991 recipients where most reside in Brooklyn (36.8%) and the Bronx
(32.5%). The case heads, regardless of
residence, are primarily black (46%) and Hispanic (42.3%) for these
programs. White and Other are
cumulatively a distant 11.67%.
What accounts for
the high unemployment? “Lack of
education makes them unemployable”, asserts Michelle George, Brooklyn Community
District 8 Manager. This district covers
Prospect Heights, northern Crown Heights, and Weeksville. “Their high school dropout rates are higher
than whites and the types of jobs that ‘lack of education’ affords—fast food
and retail—[this population] doesn’t want”.
Workforce One Centers are dealing with this aversion by preparing
Workforce One members for such employment.
Their clients include Home Depot, Lowe’s, Victoria’s Secret, Hale &
Hearty Soups, and Burger Shack.
Glen Ettienne,
owner of Delux Gallery Natural Hair Salon, in Clinton Hill, contends media
exposure shapes young blacks' and Hispanics' life decisions. “The people who own the press understand that
we’re followers. 50% can’t think for
themselves. In owning the press, they
can sway the public”. Ettienne believes
the music industry is another influencer.
“The original rap music was conscious rap that lifted us”, Ettienne
opines. “So the record executives had the musicians change their lyrics. Now nobody raps about going to college,
respecting your brother, or raising your child. 'It’s drive a nice car', 'get, the money', 'get the bitches'”.
Others observe
that neither public schools nor parents are adequately presenting the breadth
of career and occupation options that youth could consider. There are black businesses that admirably
weather the current economic climate. Black Enterprise’s Industry Leaders
lists include many local enterprises.
Kristal Auto Mall, Uniworld Group, Inc., the Brooklyn-based advertising
agency, Carver Federal, with branches in three boroughs, Valentine Mfg, in
Hauppauge, and Prime Access, a marketing company need mentioning.
Where there is no
apparent work people must make work. One
recession-proof industry is food and beverages.
Lowell Hawthorne turned one Caribbean cuisine restaurant into a
franchise called Golden Crust Caribbean
Bakery & Grill. Franchising
resulted in not only a business for Hawthorne and his co-founder but businesses
and employment for 120 franchises.
Franchising can
be an expensive proposition. Golden Crust franchisees invest between
$173,000 and $564,000 to operate the moneymakers. There are franchises that require much lower
cash outlays. Janitorial franchises are
within reach of moderate income households.
The investment ranges between $1,500 and $55,000. JAN-Pro Cleaning Systems with 10,414
franchises in the US counts 2,675 franchises owned by black executives. Investment is from $3,145 to $50,130. Returning to attitudes, blacks and Hispanics
must rethink what is worthy work and how to build wealth, if the community is
determined to solve the unemployment quagmire.
Labels: African Americans, black interest, economic recovery, economy, employment, entrepreneur, gangsta rap, Hispanics, public education, structural inequalities
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