Can't Find a Job....... You're Not Alone

Unemployment rates are really high but through the roof if you are a young black man. Information obtained from polticsdaily.com suggests that unemployment for 16-24-year-old black men was 34.5 percent in October. This is just as high as it was during the Great Depression, the Washington Post reports. Young black women face similarly bleak employment numbers: 24.5 percent of them currently do not have jobs. Combined, young blacks have an unemployment rate of 30.5 percent, also equaling Depression-era numbers.

Employment status for young blacks statistically seems to be more affected by their race than their education or previous employment and income. Statistics from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University show that lower-middle-class white teens have an easier time finding jobs than upper-middle-class black teens. Even African-Americans with college degrees have a jobless rate double that of their white peers.

I personally know what it is like to watch a black man look day in a day out for a job and as each day that passes by without employment feel more and more worthless. Trying to support someone who seems to be “unhire-able” is hard thing to do. Who knew that a bad economy could bring so much havoc on a relationship? I remember coming home each day asking “How was the job search?” At first he would answer that he put in X number of applications and was hoping to hear something soon. After the 3rd month of being jobless, when I asked “how was the job search”, he would give me the look of death. Finally he asked me not to ask him how the job search was because it just pissed him off. Then there were the many menial temporary jobs that would pay a low wage and last 1-2 weeks. It would be several weeks in between before another job was available. Of course paying the bills alone was starting to get old. I would look him upside the head like WTF….figure something out NOW. His family pretty much thought of him as a jobless loser and in the end his self esteem was in the toilet.

Sadly I could not take all the arguing and attitude from dude being jobless I felt I had to put him out. It wasn’t until I started looking to switch careers did I realize how hard it was to find a job. I looked in the papers, the internet and networked and still it was dry. Suddenly I was real thankful for my gig immediately thought about how I made boyfriend feel. I know we all need health care but I wish Obama would start to focus on this economy. News outlets are reporting that things are looking up….my question is where the hell they looking? Some people have gotten so frustrated with looking for a job they have simply stopped looking, while others have accepted jobs that pay less than they need to survive. This is causing the unemployment numbers to decrease but actually people are still suffering. Food pantries are being utilized by more people than ever; non profit agencies are assisting with more gas and electric bill than before. The homeless rate has skyrocketed.

It’s deplorable to watch Wall Street get bailed out and they give their employees six figure bonuses and the tax paper that paid for the bail out can’t afford the things they really need. Instead of having a damn tea party to protest the heath care bill we all need to demand that our government do something about this failing economy!


People if your job is hiring let people know. Surely someone knows at least one un/underemployed person. The classified section is not the way to find a job in this season…..knowing the right people can land you in a sweet position. So let’s not be selfish and down talk the brother or sister in your family that is struggling to find employment, instead offer to re-write their resume, be on the look out for jobs for them be compassionate about their situation. Remember some of us are just 1 paycheck away from homelessness.