University of California Transportation Center

One of the most pressing and pervasive problems facing contemporary American society concerns the alarmingly high rates of joblessness suffered by inner-city African-American youth. Rates of black youth unemployment and joblesness far exceed those of white youth. For the year 1995, the unemployment rate for black youth workers between 16 and 19 years of age approximately 37 percent for young black men and 34 percent for young black women. Furthermore, the rate of joblesness stood at 75 percent for black male youth and 74 percent for black female youth. In contrast, the comparable unemployment rates for white male and white female youth were 15 and 13 percent, respectively, while the corresponding rates of joblessness were 49 and 48 percent.