“Mayor Gray, I need a job.”
DC’s presumptive mayor is likely to hear this a lot from DC residents over the next four years. DC’s high unemployment became a key issue in this year’s mayoral campaign. Gray frequently cited Ward 8’s 28 percent unemployment rate ‘ and he called DC resident’s lack of jobs “a ticking time bomb.” It appears that he has staked his reputation in large part on his ability to turn the unemployment numbers around.
Kwame Brown, the likely new Council Chair, also focused a great deal on the issue of jobs. Just last week, Brown issued a statement that he wants to “address the root cause of poverty in the District … by expanding vocational education and job training” and by insisting “that businesses receiving government funds or tax assistance place recently-trained District residents into positions that carry the prospect of career growth and good wages.”
The issues of unemployment and job creation are explored in DCFPI’s monthly column, “The Numbers,” that appears in the East of the River, Hill Rag, and Mid-City DC publications.
The column highlights findings of a new DCFPI report showing that employment among DC residents with a high school degree and among African-American residents has reached the lowest level in 30 years.
Also, these issues will be explored more at an October 26 forum where DCFPI will release and discuss a new analysis that looks into “Who is Low-Income in DC.” We hope to see you there.
