Analysis of data from the Current Population Survey identified primary and secondary labor market sectors, based on whether specific skills or prior training were conditions of employment. Results showed significant unexplained earnings differentials across sectors for four groups: Black men, White men, Black women, and White women. (Author/SK)

The panoply of possible factors contributing to the observed earnings differences between blacks and whites exceeds current analytical abilities. Thus, this paper concentrates on a limited range of factors: skill differences among workers, geographic location (or labor market), and race. Skill differences are measured by schooling and experience…

Data from a survey of 800 employers were used to investigate the effects of employer skill needs on the wage levels and employment of newly hired workers, and especially on how these outcomes differ by race, gender, and educational group. Results showed that very few new jobs were available to workers who lacked credentials such as diplomas or…

This report presents research findings on the opinions of 58 low-income black men and women who discuss whether or not they feel they could earn their way out of poverty and how they might do so. The research involved four focus groups of employed and unemployed men and women from the Washington, D.C., area. The following general conclusions are…

Racially different economic outcomes stem from multiple causes, including various "mismatches" between minority employees and available jobs. A skill mismatch occurs when individuals' education and job skills do not qualify them for existing jobs. A spatial mismatch means that people live far from the work for which they qualify. A…

This report analyzes the contribution of technological change to employment and unemployment. An executive summary emphasizes the importance of technology to U.S. economic welfare and summarizes findings, options, and recommendations. Chapter 1, the introduction, tells of the effect of technological change on employment and presents the…

IN RECENT YEARS YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS HAVE PROLIFERATED, MAINLY AS A RESULT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S EXPANDED ROLE IN THIS AREA. THE PROGRAMS ARE OF TWO BASIC TYPES--(1) VOCATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS WHICH PREPARE THE YOUTH FOR EMPLOYMENT BY EQUIPPING HIM WITH A PARTICULAR SKILL AND PROPER WORK HABITS AND (2) UPWARD…

Considers the report "Workforce 2000," a study supported by the U.S. Department of Labor, and assesses criticisms of the predictions it makes of a skills mismatch with no void for educated African-American males to fill. Implications of future labor supply and demand and potential interventions are discussed. (SLD)

Characteristics that would tend to place Mexican immigrants in direct competition with native workers for jobs at the bottom of the wage and skill hierarchy are their numbers, their largely undocumented status, low education and skill levels, and poor English-speaking ability. Using regression analysis, 1980 Census data were analyzed to determine…

This study compares the effects of human capital variables (education, training, etc.) and labor market variables (location, transportation, industry type) in influencing the employment success among a selected group of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) trainees. Employment success was defined by initial wage rates of employment and…