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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Report: Inequality Persists in NC Communities

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Wednesday, April 5, 2017   

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - North Carolina's unemployment rate continues to fall, but economists remind us that those figures may not apply to all segments of the population.

A new analysis by the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center found disparities between employment opportunities for people of color and their white peers. Alexandra Sirota, director of the center, looked at data from Policy Link, a national research and advocacy organization, and found a correlation between economically disadvantaged citizens and race.

"Many of North Carolina's metro areas are struggling with continued inequality of opportunity," she said, "particularly around employment."

In the Policy Link report, Fayetteville ranked 11th in the country for unemployment among people of color, with a 16 percent jobless rate. By comparison, the city's rate among whites is 9 percent. Both are above the state average of 5.1 percent. Sirota said the state must address factors that contribute to the unemployment disparity, including access to transportation and community-based economic drivers.

Sirota said an effective strategy for targeting racial disparities would be for state and community programs to sponsor workforce development specifically for an area with high unemployment.

"Making investments that create jobs is critical, whether that be through supporting entrepreneurs or attracting and expanding existing businesses in those communities," she said. "Workers in those communities need to have the transportation connections and the opportunities to make sure their families are taken care of."

She said reducing unemployment in specific communities also would help the larger economy overall, through less demand on public services and an increased tax base for the state and federal governments.

The Policy Link report is online at policylink.org and a Budget and Tax Center analysis is at ncjustice.org.


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