Milwaukee Drilldown on African American Males

Abstract

The American Community Survey reported an estimated 48,420 African American males in the labor force from Milwaukee County in 2008. Of these, 40,482 (or 83.6%) were employed and 7,938 were unemployed and seeking for work. The 16.4% unemployment rate for African American males (ages 16 and above) is more than double the rates for white males (5.8%) and Hispanic males (8.1%), according to the 2008 ACS data. Among African American males, the employment rate was highest for men of prime working age (i.e., ages 25 thru 54) where 87.6% were employed in 2008. Unemployment rates were the worst for male teens and young adults in the labor force