New York, NY, May 4, 2004—Despite modest jobs gains in the first quarter, America\'s labor market remains stuck in the worst labor market it\\\'s been in for more than fifty years. National Urban League President and CEO, Marc H. Morial, said that according to a new Jobs Report by the Urban League\\\'s Institute for Opportunity and Equality, the number of jobs on America\\\'s payroll in March 2004 was 1.96 million short of the peak level reached in March 2001, and downward pressure on wages continues to make it difficult for American workers with jobs to make ends meet.

"America must do better," said Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League. "Although the modest job gains evidenced in the first quarter of this year are a positive sign, they are still far from sufficient. We must maintain a greater focus on active labor market policies that lead to the creation of decent jobs at livable wages."

Highlights of the National Urban League report include:

• In March 2004, the number of jobs on America\\\'s payroll was 1.96 million short of the peak level reached in March 2001. This, plus the 150,000 new entrants into the job force, on average, each month, has resulted in a gap of 7.5 million jobs today.
• Despite productivity gains, the weak labor market has put downward pressure on wages. For example, preliminary numbers for the first quarter show that wage and salary income rose so that they are now roughly equal to where they were in March 2001 at the beginning of the recession.
• Much of the downward pressure is a result of the loss of jobs in three of the highest paying private sector industries—natural resources and mining, information services such as publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications and Internet Service Providers, and manufacturing.
• The modest jobs growth that has occurred has been in four of the lowest paying industries-financial, education and health services, leisure and hospitality and other miscellaneous service industries.
• Jobs gains reflect regional trends. Regions such as the South and the West have seen modest jobs gains since last August.
• Blacks and Latinos continue to be unemployed at nearly twice the rate of their white counterparts (10.2% and 7.4%, respectively, versus 5.1% for whites).
• In the last 17 months, the African-American unemployment rate has stayed in double digits with the exception of February, when it dipped to 9.8 percent.
• Black and Latino employment have been modestly impacted by jobs growth which has been disproportionately in the South and West. Sixty-four percent of the African-American work force lives in the South or West, and 77.2 % of Hispanics live in the South or West, versus 56% of whites who live in the South and West.
• Evidence suggests that international trade may be a much bigger part of the current labor problem than outsourcing.

The National Urban League Recommends the Following:

• A greater focus on active labor market policies. The failure of current policies to create a sizable dent in the 7.5 million-jobs loss points to the need to consider active labor market policies to create jobs. Whether the policy is to hire workers for public sector needs-like homeland security, or to give larger stipends to workers going through retraining, active policies that can be phased in and out with the economy must be considered.
• An increased focus on formulas that target active labor market policies to areas like central cities, the Northeast and Midwest that have been slow to recover.
• The Federal Reserve must continue to accommodate growth by keeping interest rates low until the labor market clears.