The American economy is booming — for some. Don’t expect it to trickle down. Most Americans saw no benefit from this “stellar” economic readout.
African Americans in Flint, Michigan face their fifth year without drinkable water. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, our core infrastructure — the roads, bridges and waterways that form the lifeblood of our economic vitality — is falling apart.
This is the same America where corporate profits are scraping record highs, and General Motors closing an Ohio manufacturing plant walks hand-in-hand with increases in executive-tier bonuses.
Unemployment among African Americans remains at a near-recession level 6.7 per cent, almost twice the unemployment rate of white Americans. Worsening the racial divide, African American families have on average only 10 cents for every dollar of white family net worth.
Hourly workers — their wages remained flat in April, even as the basic cost of living expenses increased. Wages have been stagnant since President Trump took office. At the same time, employers also reduced the number of hours given to part-time and hourly employees, cutting their take-home pay even further.
One of Trump’s key 2016 campaign promises boldly promised to “bring back coal” to states like West Virginia. But today’s jobs report shows no evidence the Trump administration takes that pledge seriously: the mining sector lost jobs again in April, as it has nearly every month since Trump took office.
Profits are up and the markets are strong. The skies are darker for young workers facing a 13 per cent unemployment rate and a collapse in retail hiring.
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