American Indians and the Great Recession – Economic Disparities Growing Larger

American Indians and the Great RecessionEconomic Disparities Growing Larger, By Algernon Austin, Economic Policy Institute, December 2009

“American Indians, like Hispanic Americans and African Americans, have had the misfortune of experiencing double-digit unemployment rates for most or all of 2009. In the first half of this year, the American Indian unemployment rate averaged 13.6%. This rate is up from 7.8% in the last half of 2007, and it is 5.4 percentage points higher than the comparable 2009 white rate. All groups are being hurt by the Great Recession, but the pain is more severe in communities of color…The national data hide considerable variation for American Indians in different regions of the United States. This Issue Brief examines the change in the unemployment rate and employment-to-population ratio for American Indians in eight regions of the country: Alaska, the Midwest, the Northern Plains, the Northeast, the Southern Plains, the Southeast, the Southwest, and the West.”

American Indians and the Great Recession – Economic Disparities Growing Larger

Thank you!