National Urban League

July Jobs Report: Modest Job Growth Narrows Racial Employment Gap

Read more about July Jobs Report: Modest Job Growth Narrows Racial Employment Gap

Bernard E. Anderson, PhD

Whitney M. Young Professor Emeritus,
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Chief Economic Advisor,
National Urban League

July's modest job creation, coupled with evolving labor market tightness, generated improvement in racial employment opportunities.

Over the past several years during the post-pandemic revival of the economy the Black/White gap in unemployment narrowed to 1.63, much below the previously long-term 2:1 ratio. The Hispanic unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3 percent.

To Honor Sheila Jackson Lee's Memory, Establish A Commission To “Reach Into The Dark Past And Bring Us Into A Brighter Future

Read more about To Honor Sheila Jackson Lee's Memory, Establish A Commission To “Reach Into The Dark Past And Bring Us Into A Brighter Future

Marc H. Morial
President and CEO
National Urban League

“I am a benefactor of the hills and valleys, the broken bodies and broken hearts, the loss of life of many who have gone on before me.” – U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

The so-called “anti-woke” movement in the United States is determined to obscure the nation’s ugly history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination.

But Sheila Jackson Lee saw the beauty in that history.

“The Constitution did not grant us citizenship or even status as one human being, but we survived,” she said. “We had the Harriet Tubman of the world, the Sojourner Truth of the world. We had the Frederick Douglass of the world. That is the beauty of America. We were resilient, we should tell that story. Brutality comes with survival and success.”