Punch line: In August, the unemployment rate for blacks surged to 16.7% in August, its highest rate since 1984; unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%.
Black men have it the worst, with joblessness at a staggeringly high 19.1%, compared to 14.5% for black women.
Black unemployment has been roughly double that of whites since the government started tracking the figures in 1972.
Economists blame a variety of factors:
- The black workforce is younger than the white workforce
- Fewer numbers of blacks get a college degree
- Many blacks live in areas of the country that were harder hit by the recession
But even excluding those factors, blacks still are hit with higher joblessness.
“Even when you compare black and white workers, same age range, same education, you still see pretty significant gaps in unemployment rates suggesting that racial discrimination in the labor market continues to play a role.”
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And according to Gallup, 83% of blacks approve of the job that Obama is doing as President …
The Homa Files 
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