[PEN-L:11743] Re: Black Male Employment

[Robert Cherry <RobertC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rudy Fichtenbaum wrote: "I wonder if the continuing increase in the
incarceration of black males could account for a significant part of the
declining employment to population ratio."


Thanks for the comment.  The employment rate is a measure of the share of
the noninstitutionalized population which is employed.  In this case, if
there is a growth in the incarceration rate of unemployed black men, the
employment rate would actually increase.  Thus, a higher incarceration rate
increases the employment rate just as it decreases the unemployment rate.

This, however, might mean that if the incarceration rate DROPPED between
1995 and 1996, this might have reduced the employment rate as more black men
were on the streets rather than in prisons.  This would show up as an
unusually large increase in the noninstitutionalized population.

Robert Cherry