African Americans make up 12% of the population, but account for 20% of the unemployed

The high unemployment rate for African-Americans is partly attributed to the large reduction of public sector jobs, which is the largest employer of black workers. One out of every five working African Americans are employed by the government, according to the labor department. As governments continue to trim budgets, the mass layoffs of public employees have disproportionately impacted the African-American community. Since January 2009, more than 429,000 workers employed by state and local governments have lost their jobs, according to labor researchers at the University of California at Berkeley.