This hits home in Minneapolis, where black unemployment was estimated at 27 percent in 2011 by the Economic Policy Institute. Also, home prices in three of the city’s poorest sections — Camden, Near North, and Phillips — remain more than 60 percent below their pre-recession highs, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. Homes in north Minneapolis routinely are worth a third or a fourth of what people paid for them in 2005.

Algernon Austin, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Washington, said that taken together, the difference between unemployment rates between different racial groups and their median incomes was just as big a contributing factor to the wealth gap as housing. The black unemployment rate has stayed north of 13 percent since the recession began, and many researchers say the number might be much higher.

Demos said this can be partly attributed to higher unemployment in these communities. Unemployment among African-Americans stood at 14% at the end of 2012, while the Hispanic unemployment rate stood at nearly 10% — much higher than the 6% rate for white Americans, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

The Hispanic unemployment rate at the end of 2012 in 13 states significantly exceeded the state rate, with the percentage of jobless Hispanics surpassing 17 percent in five states.

Overall, the unemployment rates likely will remain high for whites, Latinos, and African-Americans through the year, according to projections by the Economic Policy Institute.

Illinois’ 2013 unemployment rate for whites and Hispanics is projected to stay consistent with 2012, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But the rate for African Americans is expected to decrease to 13.9 percent, but still stay above the national average.

The report suggests “our leaders have gotten sidetracked by potentially harmful calls for deficit reduction” and should instead borrow money to “invest heavily in infrastructure improvements, which create large numbers of jobs and stimulate the economy.”

“Policymakers need to focus on jobs now, and on deficits only after we have a strong economy,” the report reads. The Washington-based Economic Policy Institute is a non-profit think tank often presenting a liberal viewpoint on economic issues.

According to the author of the report, Algernon Austin, director of the program on race, ethnicity and economy at the Economic Policy Institute, infrastructure spending has a “big bang for your buck” and would positively stimulate the economy.

“That means we could put a lot of unemployed construction workers to work right now, and way into the future, infrastructure investments lead to higher productivity, it’s a win-win,” he said. “The borrowing costs are quite low for the government right now, the smart thing at the federal level is to borrow investment for infrastructure, put people back to work and ensure long-term strong economic productivity.”