What You Need to Know About the State of Urban Jobs!

Urban unemployment continues to plague our communities and hamper our progress. Our State of Urban Jobs site at iamempowered.com gives you everything you need to know about jobs including the monthly employment report with job stats for Blacks, Whites and Latinos, the facts about how investing in job creation is the best strategy for reducing the deficit, resume writing tips, job listings and the National Urban League's response to the current crisis. The National Urban League Policy Institute's Dr. Valerie Wilson will be conducting a live Q+A on the newly released employment report.
Log on: http://www.wix.com/stateofurbanjobs/nulpi

Highlights of the May 2010 Employment Report:

The economy gained a net 431,000 jobs in May, largely due to the hiring of 411,000 temporary Census workers. Private employment increased by only 41,000 much less than the 180,000 forecasted.

The unemployment rate in May returned to 9.7% -- the same as the first 3 months in 2010. The black unemployment rate declined to 15.5% (down from 16.5%) as the participation rate held steady at 62.8%. The unemployment rate for black men declined (from 18% to 17.1%), as did the rate for black women (from 13.7% to 12.4%). White unemployment returned to 8.8% (same as in February and March) and Latino unemployment was little changed at 12.4%. The rate of underemployment (including the unemployed, marginally attached and those working part-time for economic reasons) was 16.6%.

The ranks of long-term unemployed was little changed at 46% of all unemployed, representing 6.8 million people jobless for 27 weeks or more. This persistently high rate of long-term unemployed is a clear sign that labor market is far from being in recovery for many people in this country and along with the weak growth in private employment, reinforces the need for legislation that funds direct job creation and training for the chronically unemployed. A new report from the National Urban League Policy Institute describes how investing in job creation is also the best strategy for reducing the deficit as increasing employment leads to increased income tax revenues and reduced spending for income support programs that amount to a $310 billion reduction in the deficit.

Aside from government hiring (via Census), manufacturing (+29,000), professional and business services (+22,000) and education and health services (+17,000) were the major industry sectors with the most growth in May.

The May 2010 Employment report, along with a new report called Untangling the Budget Deficit: Jobs Surge Can Reduce the Deficit by $310 billion and other interactive jobs features including a live Q+A at 2:00 PM EST TODAY are available at the new State of Urban Jobs page. Click here to view http://www.wix.com/stateofurbanjobs/nulpi