THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION IN URBAN POVERTY
NEIGHBORHOODS: THIRD QUARTER 1971

Employment and unemployment in the poverty neighborhoods of the Nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas were essentially unchanged between the second and third quarters of 1971, the U. S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The unemployment rate for urban poverty neighborhoods was 10. 4 percent in the third quarter of 1971 (seasonally adjusted), virtually the same as in the second quarter (10.1 percent). The

Important Notice

Publication of statistics on urban poverty neighborhoods
will be discontinued temporarily following the next release
on fourth quarter 1971 developments. Beginning in January
1972, identification of poverty areas on a basis consistent
with previously published data will not be possible because
the sampling and estimation procedures for the Current
Population Survey (CPS), from which the poverty area
data are derived, will at that time be adjusted to reflect the
introduction of 1970 decennial census data and materials.

Delineation of poverty areas in the current series,
which began in 1967, utilizes 1960 decennial census tracts,
and the criteria for the selection of poverty neighborhoods
are based on data from the 1960 census. (See note at end
of release.) The introduction into the CPS of 1970 census
data and 1970 criteria for defining poverty areas will
significantly alter the identification of poverty areas, and
it will not be possible to continue the current series using
the 1960 poverty area designations.

After the CPS redesign is completed, and the necessary
Census data are available to delineate the new poverty
area boundaries, publication of poverty neighborhood data
will be resumed, probably sometime in 1973. The new
series will also then be extended to cover all poverty areas
in the United States, with breakouts available for metro-
politan and nonmetropolitan areas. For these reasons, the
poverty area data that will be published following this
transition period will not be directly comparable with those
published covering the 1967-71 period.

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rate for other urban neighborhoods (5.9 percent) was also about unchanged over the quarter as was the rate for the Nation as a whole (6.0 percent). Labor Force and Employment

The civilian noninstitutional population in poverty neighborhoods declined slightly between the second and third quarters of 1971, while the labor force remained unchanged. These poverty neighborhoods account for approximately 7-1/2 percent of the country's population and labor force.

Employment in poverty neighborhoods averaged 5, 5 million in the third quarter, seasonally adjusted, the same as in the first 2 quarters of the year. In contrast, employment in the other urban neighborhoods rose substantially for the second straight quarter.

Unemployment

Although the overall unemployment rate in urban poverty neighborhoods was unchanged, the rate for adult women declined on a seasonally adjusted basis in the third quarter of 1971, while that for adult men increased. The rate for adult women fell from 8.9 to 7.7 percent between the second and third quarters, marking the first decline since the third quarter of 1969. On the other hand, the adult male rate rose from 8. 3 to 9.4 percent, the second straight quarterly advance. The unemployment rate for teenagers, at 26.0 percent, was not significantly changed over the quarter.

The jobless rate for whites in urban poverty neighborhoods was 8.0 percent (seasonally adjusted) in the third quarter, down from 9.1 percent in the previous quarter. In contrast, the rate for Negroes rose from 11. 9 to 14. 1 percent between these 2 quarters. As a result, the ratio of Negro-to-white jobless rates in these neighborhoods increased substantially from 1. 3 to 1 to 1.8 to 1--the same ratio as in the Nation as a whole.

The decline in the white jobless rate reflected declines over the quarter in the seasonally adjusted rates for both adult women (from 8. 3 to 5.0 percent) and teenagers (from 23.8 to 19.0). The rise in the Negro rate, in contrast, was due to increased joblessness among adult men, whose rate rose from 9.8 to 12.1 percent (seasonally adjusted). Over-the-year Developments

Between the third quarters of 1970 and 1971, both the population and the labor force in urban poverty areas were virtually unchanged. As a result, the proportion of the population 16 years of age and over in the labor force

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was about the same (57.0 percent). In other urban neighborhoods, the labor force participation rate also remained unchanged, as the labor force increase in these areas over the year was proportional to the population increase. Employment in poverty neighborhoods decreased by 110,000 over the year (not seasonally adjusted), while unemployment rose by a comparable amount.

The

NOTE: The data presented in this release are derived from
the Current Population Survey, which is conducted by the
Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
poverty neighborhood classification was developed by the
Bureau of the Census and is based on a ranking of census tracts
according to 1960 data on income, education, skills, housing,
and proportion of broken families. The poorest one-fifth of
these tracts in the Nation' s 100 largest metropolitan areas are
considered poverty neighborhoods. The poverty neighborhood
statistics probably include some middle- and upper-income
families and also exclude some poor families who live in other
urban neighborhoods. In 1967, for example, only about one-
third of the Negro families living in poverty neighborhoods had
incomes below the poverty level as defined by the Social
Security Administration. The se data, therefore, do not
represent the exact dimensions of the employment problems of
all poor people but are instead minimal estimates of the adverse
conditions of residents in the se specific poverty neighborhoods.

69-110 O 713

able 1. Employment status of persons 16 years and over in urban poverty and other urban neighborhoods' by color (Number in thousands)

Table 2. Unemployment rates in urban poverty and other urban neighborhoods' by color, sex and age

TUAT TION:

Transmission Embargo
9:30 A. M.

Friday, November 5, 1971

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: OCTOBER 1971

Total employment continued to rise in October, and unemployment edged down, the U. S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The unemployment rate was 5. 8 percent in October compared with 6.0 percent in September.

The total number of employed persons increased by 320,000 (season

ally adjusted) in October to a record level of 79.8 million.

Nonagricultural payroll employment was unchanged in October, as employment gains in several industries were offset by a net increase in workers on strike (90,000). (Workers on strike are not counted as employed in the nonagricultural payroll series, because they are not on employer payrolls. In the total employment series from the household survey, strikers are counted as employed--with a job but not at work.) The average workweek rebounded in October after a drop in September.

Unemployment

The number of unemployed persons totaled 4.6 million in October, 270,000 fewer than in September. Unemployment usually decreases between September and October, but the decline this year was somewhat greater than usual, and, after seasonal adjustment, unemployment was down by 135,000. The decline stemmed largely from a reduction in the number of unemployed workers who had lost their jobs and was essentially confined to adult men. The overall jobless rate also declined slightly-from 6.0 percent in September to 5. 8 percent in October.

The unemployment rate for all adult men edged down from 4. 5 percent in September to 4. 3 percent in October. The rate for married men also declined, from 3. 3 to 3.0 percent, reaching its lowest level in a year. The unemployment rates for adult women (5,5 percent) and teenagers (17.0 percent) were virtually unchanged from their September levels.