WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- The Center for Law and Social Policy says less-educated young men saw their unemployment rates rise during the late 1990s -- boom times for most groups.
A new study says most demographic groups saw their employment rates and incomes rise during the late 1990s, especially less-educated women.
The report, entitled "Boom Times a Bust: Declining Employment Among Young Less-Educated Men," finds that in 1999, men aged 18 to 24 with a high school diploma or less were less likely to be working than their counterparts in 1979, another economic peak.
And when they were working, they earned significantly less than their better-educated counterparts.
During the 20-year time period, employment rates fell by 5 percentage points for that group, from 83 percent employed to 78 percent employed.
When the study's authors look specifically at African American men in the same group, the employment rate dropped 13 percentage points, from 66 percent to 53 percent.
