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Wednesday, November 6, 2024

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Trump claims 'powerful mandate' after Fox News projects he has won the US presidency; experts express caution over post-election AI deepfakes; Colorado's housing crisis linked to billionaire investors; Election Day is over; now it's a waiting game.

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Trump wins the White House. Republicans will take over the Senate after flipping several seats, and seem to be on track to hold the House. In spite of bomb threats and charges of fraud, a very high-turnout election mostly went smoothly.

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A Cambodian poultry farmer who lost his livelihood could be a hero for others, rural Montanans are anxiously awaiting a court ruling over a climate lawsuit brought by young people, and Northeast states say more housing for working families could boost jobs.

Florida’s Black employment rate still trails whites, despite gains

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Monday, September 30, 2024   

Despite recent improvements in Black unemployment rates, a new report showed Black Americans continue to face significant disparities in the labor market, and Floridians are no exception.

The report estimated in the Sunshine State alone, Black men need about 40,000 more jobs to reach parity with white men in the workforce, underscoring the racial employment gap as a costly burden for Black workers. In 2022, Black unemployment fell to 5.5%, the lowest rate in more than 50 years.

Algernon Austin, director of race and economic Justice at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said the positive statistic obscures deeper issues.

"Black America still needs about 1.4 million more people working to have the same employment rate as white America," Austin pointed out. "We still have a significant need for jobs."

The research is from the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. For Black Americans who are employed, Austin noted the data show significant wage disparities and the employment gap is costing them about $60 billion a year.

While policymakers discuss solutions such as subsidized employment programs, Austin emphasized targeted actions, such as raising the minimum wage, are crucial to addressing systemic inequities.

"This is America's historic problem," Austin asserted. "This problem begins in the enslavement of the Black population, and then Jim Crow and then the continuing discrimination in the labor market."

In the most recent figures, for August, the U-S labor market saw modest job growth. But Black unemployment remained at just over 6%, significantly higher than the 3.8% rate for white workers. The report highlighted despite lower Black unemployment levels, structural barriers -- from hiring discrimination to limited access to high-paying jobs -- continue to impede economic progress for Black Americans.


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