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☆ William E. Spriggs, Economist Who Pushed for Racial Justice, Dies at 68
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Ben Casselman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“Bill was somebody who was deeply committed to the idea that we do economics because we have a social purpose,” William A. Darity Jr., a Duke University economist and longtime friend, said in a phone interview. But the topic he came back to most frequently, and spoke most passionately about, was that of racial disparities in the labor market. Black Americans, he pointed out time and again, consistently experienced unemployment at double the rate of white people — a troubling fact that he argued got too little attention among economists. “Modern economics has a deep and painful set of roots that too few economists acknowledge,” Dr. Spriggs wrote. “In the hands of far too many economists, it remains with the assumption that African Americans are inferior until proven otherwise.”

Persons: Bill, William A, Darity Jr, Dr, Spriggs, George Floyd, —, “, ” Organizations: Duke University, Social Security, New York Times

☆ The Fed could easily drive Black unemployment much higher than the overall jobless rate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

However, the jobless rate isn’t expected to be that low for long. While that’s a small improvement from the central bank’s previous 4.6% jobless rate estimate, economists say it’s possible the unemployment rate could rise above the Fed’s expectations. It can be difficult to slow an unemployment spiralEconomists say it’s hard to guess the trajectory of the unemployment rate this year, noting it could very well exceed the Fed’s estimate. As such, the Fed’s tightening efforts could easily drive the Black unemployment rate much higher than the overall jobless rate, said William Spriggs, an economics professor at Howard University and chief economist to the AFL-CIO. The Black unemployment rate will easily get to 9% in that scenario.”One other likely consequence of growing unemployment is slowing wage growth, Bivens said.

☆ Unemployment for Black and Hispanic women rose in February, but more workers join the labor force
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty ImagesThe unemployment rate for Black and Hispanic women rose in February, but so did the number of people looking for jobs. Women aged 20 and over in the labor force tracked that move, with the unemployment rate rising slightly to 3.2% from 3.1%. Black women saw their unemployment rate jump to 5.1% from 4.7%. For Hispanic women, the labor force participation rate rose slightly to 61.3% from 61.1%, while the employment-population ratio stayed unchanged at 58.4%. In February, the U.S. economy added 311,000 payrolls, though the unemployment rate ticked up and wages rose slightly.

☆ Reaching maximum employment will help close the racial wealth gap, says Howard University economics professor William Spriggs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Macklin Fishman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Reaching maximum employment will help close the racial wealth gap, according to AFL-CIO chief economist and Howard University economics professor William Spriggs. In an interview with CNBC, Spriggs said the impact of discrimination against Black employees is less acute when the labor market operates at full employment. "When we have a really poor labor market, white high school dropouts do better than Black people with associate degrees," Spriggs explained. While Black Americans do withdraw from the labor market when the market collapses, Spriggs said this is not always reflected in the data on Black labor force participation. Implicit bias can also affect economic data and policy by dictating the questions that analysts ask, Spriggs said.

☆ How the Fed can close the racial wealth gap: AFL-CIO's William Spriggs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Macklin Fishman | Lindsey Jacobson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHow the Fed can close the racial wealth gap: AFL-CIO's William SpriggsAFL-CIO chief economist and Howard University economics professor William Spriggs says that the impact of discrimination against Black employees is less acute when the labor market operates at full employment. He tells CNBC how the Federal Reserve can close the racial wealth gap and how an economic slowdown might affect Black workers.

☆ Why Black workers are a canary in the coal mine for the U.S. economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Watching labor data on Black workers in the U.S. can offer helpful clues about the strength – or weakness – of the economy, and even signal economic changes before they show up in the headline print. That's because Black workers are more able to find employment in strong labor markets and can be the first to lose their jobs when the economy weakens. "Black workers are the canary in the coal mine – are you actually hiring people?" "The Black unemployment rate continues to be the highest, indicating that Black workers are facing more challenges, having a more difficult time securing employment," said Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute's program on race, ethnicity and the economy. "We know that for every one percentage-point change in the national unemployment rate, we typically get close to a two percentage-point change in the Black unemployment rate," she said.

☆ Demonstrations, calls for police reforms flood Memphis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Deon J. Hampton | Deon J. Hampton Is A National Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, fueled by newly released body camera footage showing the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by police officers, demanded justice, accountability and police reform Saturday afternoon. “We’re used to having issues with police in this city.”Body camera footage of Nichols being savagely beaten by Memphis officers on Jan. 7 was released Friday night, igniting protests across the U.S. For Memphis demonstrator Joshua Lewis, 18, he said he wasn’t surprised by the actions of the officers who were caught on camera beating Nichols. “It angered me to see the video of Tyre but this is normal (in Memphis) and I feel that it’s time for a change. “The corruption of the Memphis police and the death of Tyre Nichols, we’re just tired altogether.

But mainstream economic data doesn't always reflect the struggle, according to William Spriggs, Howard University economics professor and chief economist for the AFL-CIO. Throughout the last year, employers claimed they were struggling to staff properly, citing a lack of workers. But as the workforce picked up, employers weren't actually hiring, Spriggs said. Specifically, he said, they weren't hiring Black workers. Watch the video to learn more about how implicit bias corrupts economic data and therefore our understanding of the current labor landscape.

☆ How implicit bias corrupts economic data: AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Lindsey Jacobson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHow implicit bias corrupts economic data: AFL-CIO Chief Economist William SpriggsAn economic slow down may hit the black labor force first, although AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs said traditional economic indicators may not show it. Watch the video to find out why.

☆ The unemployment rate for Black men fell in October, but so did labor force participation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Joe Raedle | Getty ImagesThe unemployment rate for Black men ticked down in October while it rose for most other groups, but that may be because workers are dropping out of the labor force. For Black men, unemployment fell to 5.3% from 5.8% a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis. Though overall there is strength in the labor market, "this is not the tight labor market where people can just walk in and get a job no matter who they are." Overall Black unemployment ticked up led by Black women. In October, the unemployment rate for Black women jumped to 5.8% from 5.4% in September.

The local unemployment rate is already nearly a percentage point above the U.S. average of 3.5%. "It's very premature in my view to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hikes. The target federal funds rate is now in a range of between 3.75% and 4%, the highest since early 2008. In the 1970s and 1980s, Fed Chair Paul Volcker's attack on inflation sparked a recession that pushed the unemployment rate above 10%, then a post-World War II high. "I do worry about how rates affect the economy," Bostic said at the forum.

☆ Hispanic unemployment rate falls sharply in September, but fewer workers join labor force
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Marco Bello | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe unemployment rate among Hispanic workers dropped sharply in September, but that could be due to fewer eligible adults looking for a job. Hispanic workers saw their unemployment rate fall to 3.8% from 4.5% in August. But Hispanics saw a sharp decline in labor force participation, which tracks how many people are employed or searching for work. Many Hispanic workers do seek employment in some areas of the market heavily affected by Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, she added. While Hispanic workers saw the biggest declines on a month-to-month basis, she noted that Black women have still seen the sharpest decline in labor force participation since the start of the pandemic.

☆ The U.S. unemployment rate rose in August, and Black workers' labor force participation declined
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-02 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe August jobs report showed the U.S. unemployment rate rise across the board. Meanwhile, Black workers marked the only demographic to see their labor force participation fall. The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage point to 3.7% in August, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, Black workers marked the only group that saw labor force participation decline, while their employment-population ratio, which measures what percentage of the population holds a job, also fell. "What's happened is the queue's just gotten longer so the discouraged worker effect is much more acute for Black workers."

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