- Latinos, hit hard by job losses, are making strong comeback, By Don Lee, February 5, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “After scraping by on handyman jobs for a year, Bert Qintana figured he’d have to leave his wife and teenage son at their home near Taos, N.M., and find work elsewhere. Then Qintana got a call last month from Chevron Mining, which runs a mine 20 miles away. Would he be interested in hauling muck from the molybdenum mine for $17.05 an hour? He leaped at the offer. ‘Thank God,’ said Qintana, 45, a Latino who had worked as a general contractor. ‘I was able to hang in there and not have to move.’ About a dozen other workers, most of them Latino, also were hired. Like Qintana, many Latinos with ties to the home building industry got slammed by the recession, which wiped out about 2 million construction jobs. But now, as the economic rebound picks up a bit of steam, Latinos are scoring bigger job gains than most other demographic groups and proving to be a bright spot in the fledgling recovery…”
- For some black women, economy and willingness to aid family strains finances, By Ylan Q. Mui and Chris L. Jenkins, February 5, 2012, Washington Post: “The Great Recession carried special pain for black women like Jane Ladson. She had always been the one her family turned to when they needed help, and she didn’t hesitate to give it. She helped pay for weddings and rent. She made room for her nephew when her brother died of AIDS. And even now in her 50s, she took in a baby that wasn’t her own. But help was easier to give when the economy was booming and Ladson was bringing home $4,000 a month as a mechanic at Amtrak. Even an injury on the job turned into a blessing in disguise when she collected a $700,000 settlement that allowed her to build her dream home in Clinton and help her longtime partner start her own hair salon. Then the recession hit, and fate twisted the other way…”
- Unemployment drop still leaves low skill workers behind, By Michael A. Fletcher, February 6, 2012, Washington Post: “The nation’s jobless rate has declined to its lowest level in three years, a fact that has left Jamie Bean, an unemployed air-conditioner repairman, feeling more left out than ever. Bean, 36, lost his job in December. Now he is scrambling to keep up with child-support payments to his wife, who is also unemployed. ‘As it stands now, I can’t afford to get divorced,’ he said, managing a wry smile. Bean’s predicament is not unlike that of many people who have a high school education or less. Not only were they hit especially hard by the recession but they have continued losing ground in the recovery that has followed. By disproportionate numbers, these Americans have given up looking for work, making the nation’s recovery appear better than it is. If the unemployment rate counted the 2.8 million people who want jobs but have stopped looking, it would sit at 9.9 percent rather than its current 8.3 percent…”
Day: February 8, 2012
Child Poverty – Maine
Census data shows poverty hitting Washington County children hard, By Tom Walsh, February 7, 2012, Bangor Daily News: “Nearly one in three children living in Washington County lives in poverty. A recent study titled ‘Poverty in Maine’ shows 30.9 percent of those under age 18 are living in Washington County households with incomes below the federal poverty level. On a county-by-county basis, that is the highest childhood poverty rate in Maine. Statewide, the childhood rate is 18.2 percent, which is less than the national rate of 21.6 percent…”
Prisoner Re-Entry Program – Michigan
Audit: Michigan’s prisoner re-entry initiative harms public safety, fails to track ex-convicts, By Mike Martindale, February 8, 2012, Detroit News: “A much heralded Michigan prisoner release program is only moderately effective, not sufficiently monitored and lacks proper record-keeping, according to a state audit released Tuesday. The audit is the second in less than a year criticizing the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative, which the Department of Corrections has held up as a successful model of how to safely blend ex-convicts back into society. Corrections officials claim the initiative – which has received more than $175 million since 2007, including $52 million last year – has cut recidivism by giving ex-convicts aid for housing, transportation, employment, health care and education. The 32-page audit focuses on shortcomings and provides support to critics who say the department has put budget issues before public safety…”