States with Greater Racial and Ethnic Diversity and Higher Unemployment Rates Received Less Recovery Funds in 2009
February 17, 2010
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law almost exactly one year ago, on February 17, 2009. The impetus of this $787 billion economic stimulus package was to stem the economic crisis and soften the recession. The ways in which stimulus funds are to achieve these goals are expressly directed by ARRA, including: “to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery [and] to assist those most impacted by the recession.”
Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by the recession. The January 2010 national unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. For White workers, the unemployment rate is 8.7 percent. But Black unemployment is almost double that—16.5 percent—and Latino employment is 12.6 percent. Moreover, a report by United for a Fair Economy, State of the Dream 2010: Drained, asserts that Blacks and Latinos are 2.9 and 2.7 times as likely, respectively, to live in poverty than Whites. It is questionable whether ARRA funds are reaching these populations.
Newly-released federal data published on www.recovery.gov indicate state ARRA funds allocations in 2009. A new feature of the website, the “diversity index,” shows the racial and ethnic diversity of each state. States are ranked from 0 to 100—a rank of 100 means that if two random people were picked in a state, there would be a 100 percent chance that they would be of different races or ethnicities. According to this index, California has the greatest diversity with a score of 83, and Vermont has the lowest diversity with a score of eight.
Attached files
- ARRA_diversity_and unemployment_FINAL_Feb 12 2010 (4).pdf (173.84KB PDF)
Filed under Economic Stimulus, Research
