Black Slack

Ok. Let’s get something straight the jump: I am NOT calling Black people lax, careless, remiss, or negligent.

I am NOT calling us slack.

In fact, anybody who’ve followed my posts—or know me personally-- knows that I have consistently railed against that favorite all American sport of assigning negative characteristics to Blacks as a group. You know, lazy. Uninformed. Unintelligent. Miscreants. Predatory. Shady. Not that there aren’t individuals who fit that bill. Every group can claim their share of morally questionable characters. What I’ve always opposed is the willingness of so many to view a shady Black character and to treat that person as a stand-in for the entire group. So, again:

I am NOT calling us slack.

But, yeah, I get how someone might peek this title and immediately assume that I’m making a character judgment about an entire people. Black slack.

The slack that this post points to is what economist call “labor market slack.” Labor economist David G. Blanchford says this about such slack: “By labor market slack I mean how many potential hours of work out there that could be put to work.” To decode for those not used to econo-speak: Slack refers to the numbers of persons that our economy allows to persist in idleness. It’s the jobless people hoping and looking for a gig that allows them to live dignified lives. It’s the people working part-time but who desire a full job. It’s the individual who, full of despair, just gives up looking for a job and drops out of the labor force. It’s about the people who feel—and are—shut out of the economy.

Black slack, then, is my way of highlighting the fact disproportionate numbers of Blacks are victimized by labor market slack. Elevated numbers of Black people find themselves sitting on the economic sidelines. Working part-time involuntarily. Or unemployed. Or just giving up and dropping out. That’s what I’m focused on here.

But, let me add this. How likely would have you been to pop open this post were it titled something like:

“Labor Market Dynamics and the Relative Economic Status of African-Americans.”

Or, how about this:

“Secular trends in racial disparities in joblessness.”

Or:

“A Note On Color Coded Labor Market Outcomes.”

My guess is that hardly anyone of yawl would be reading this post right now. You’d would have passed this post by.

So, I’m going to keep it 100. I chose “Black Slack” because I thought it just might grab your attention. And if you’re still reading, well, I guess I was right.

Since I’ve got your attention, then, do me a favor. Look at the chart below.

That’s the second chart reproduced from the Brookings note that I referenced in an earlier post. Each line tracks labor market slack for Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks, respectively. Underemployment is used to capture the degree of slack or distress for each group. Just in case you didn’t check out my earlier post, let me drop this again: Underemployment consist of three groups:

1. The unemployed. That’s the number of people who are jobless and actively seeking employment. Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases a report that centers on these folks. When you hear politicians or policymakers reference the unemployment rate they’re talking about this group. The August BLS report noted that the unemployment rate was 10.2%. You’ve probably heard Trump beaming about that number and citing it as evidence that things are starting to look rosy on the economic front.

2. The involuntary part-time. That’s the people who are working part-time but desiring full-time employment. They’re not happy with their part-time status. You know, the lack of benefits can make you feel some sort of way.

3. The Marginally attached. These are those who are jobless but have not looked for employment within the last four weeks.

Two more quick reminders. One, groups (2) and (3) are not included in the unemployment rate that we hear about every month. Two, the underemployment rate contains all three groups. Think of this way.

Unemployment=Group (1)

Underemployment= Group (1) + Group (2) + Group (3)

Got it? Great!

So, what do we learn from the above chart? Well, one thing we learn is that the Black underemployment rate is higher than the comparable rates for Hispanics and Whites. In other words, labor market slack falls with a pronounced thud on Black bodies. Black bodies are especially prone to be treated as disposable by the labor market. Every takes a hit. But we get hammered.

And here’s another thing we learn: The underemployment rate is always higher than the unemployment rate. Or, let me run it to you this way: The unemployment fails to capture the full extent of labor market distress or slack. There’s a lot more economic misery out there than the unemployment rate would suggest.

Remember that labor economist I mentioned above? David Blanchflower. Remember him? He’s no slouch and is well-known within the economics profession. Everyone may not agree with him. But he’s widely respected. He’s made, and is still making, his bones. He makes it abundantly clear that, in his judgment, the unemployment rate fails to sufficiently capture what’s really going on in the labor market:

“So, something is clearly wrong with the unemployment rate as a measure of what is going on in the labor market… My advice is to go with the underemployment rate as the best indicator of slack, which suggests the United States is a long way from full employment. The unemployment rate is seriously flawed nowadays and no longer is your personal guide to the level of slack in the labor market.”

Seriously flawed. Not capable of being “your personal guide” to labor market slack. That’s how he describes the unemployment rate. And that’s why he urges us to use the underemployment, not the unemployment, rate as a metric for measuring labor market misery.

So, the next time you hear someone talking about the unemployment rate, ask them about the underemployment rate. Tell them that unemployment rate masks some of the misery that’s out there. Tell them that the underemployment rate is a much better indicator of how far we are from envisioning and operationalizing an economy where a job at decent pay and benefits is available for all those able , ready, and willing to work. Tell them we need a jobs program. And in your telling be sure to center Black Slack.

Catch you on the rebound,

Doc Greene