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NewsFlash: September 18, 2008

Black advances erode as labor market weakens

While bad economic news continues to pile up for America’s working people, the economic trends are even more disheartening for African American families. Gains made during the strong labor market of the latter 1990s business cycle have eroded, even as the economy grew significantly. On all major indicators – income, wages, employment and poverty – African Americans lost ground between 2000 and 2007.

Algernon Austin, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy, examines the trends and their impact in a new report: Reversal of Fortune: Economic Gains of 1990s Overturned for African Americans From 2000-07.
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