Race-Recovery Index Charts April Unemployment and Federal ARRA Contract Awards, By Race
Despite the gain of 290,000 jobs in April, overall unemployment rose from 9.7% to 9.9% due to the reentry of over 800,000 individuals into the labor force. Black unemployment held steady at 16.5% from March to April, while Latino unemployment dropped slightly from 12.6% to 12.5%.
While women-owned and minority-owned businesses received a smaller-than-proportional percentage and dollar value of federal ARRA (Recovery Act) contracts overall, there is an upward trend in such contract awards in recent months. More information, including a variety of charts, is available in the May Race-Recovery Index released today by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University.
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