La Raza Progress Report Says Congress Must Reach All Communities With Recovery Efforts

Washington, DC—Leading civil rights organizations and think tanks warn that the latest unemployment figures signal a long road ahead to economic recovery.  According to an economic progress reportreleased today by NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, federal recovery efforts have not effectively reached minority communities.  Overall unemployment stands at more than 10%, with Whites at 9.5%, Blacks at nearly 16%, and Latinos at just over 13%.  Monthly unemployment has reached its highest peak since 1985 for Blacks and 1983 for Latinos.

Along with recommendations to improve effectiveness of current federal efforts, NCLR’s progress report calls for a new federal job creation initiative that targets the hardest-hit communities.  “Latinos and other minority workers have been doing all they can to find work and make ends meet,” said NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía,  “but if the government does not do its part, unemployment will continue to plague our communities and threaten any long-term economic prosperity.”

“Today’s job numbers are a call to action,” said Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League.  “We call upon the administration and Congress to drastically step up efforts to provide opportunity to those who continue to be hardest hit by the economic recession.”

“The prospects for a robust recovery without significant federal attention to creating jobs are nonexistent.  The depression levels of unemployment experienced by America’s racial and ethnic minorities demand that Congress and the Obama administration make job creation the first priority over the coming weeks and months,” said Christian Dorsey, Director of External and Government Affairs at the Economic Policy Institute.

“Jobs are still hard to find for many Americans even though the economy has begun to grow,” said Heather Boushey, Senior Economist at the Center for American Progress.  “We must put our efforts into getting people back to work by paving the way for the creation of good jobs, while also working to mitigate the impact of rising unemployment on the nearly 16 million workers who are now unemployed.”

Without a better approach, national job creation efforts will continue to miss the hardest-hit communities and exclude Latinos and other minority workers, failing to build confidence in the government’s recovery efforts. 

For more information, visit www.nclr.org | http://www.facebook.com/nationalcounciloflaraza |http://www.myspace.com/nclr2008 | http://twitter.com/nclr.