For the second month in a row, the unemployment rate of Blacks has remained steady at 11.4 percent, which is just a little less than double the national rate of 6.1 percent for August.
Blacks continue to lead all but one worker group in unemployment. Only young people 18-29 posted a higher rate of 15 percent, if those who have given up looking for employment are factored in. The numbers do not bode well for African American youth 18-29 years old, who lead groups in this sub-segment with 22.4 percent looking for work compared to 15.8 percent of Hispanics.
The 7.3 million people working part time in August because either their hours were cut back or they could not find full-time employment was essentially unchanged according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic (BLS).
The total non-farm payroll employment increased by an anemic 142,000 jobs for August compared with an average monthly gain of 212,000 jobs during the prior 12 months. Employment in healthcare, construction and leisure and hospitality continued to grow for the month, while manufacturing and retail experienced little change.
The BLS also notes that jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector have increased by 289,000 positions during the last year; and according to a survey conducted and released Friday by the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) and WageWatch Inc., it’s the industry offering high-paying jobs with benefits and a fast track to senior positions in the industry.
Highlights of the survey found that nearly 40 percent of the 12,000 hotels questioned paid 100 percent of their workforce above the minimum wage. About 85.8 percent provided medical insurance benefits to non-exempt workers and nearly 62 percent who do offer employee healthcare benefits subsidize basic individual plan premiums at 60 percent or greater. The survey also noted that 80 percent of minimum wage workers are eligible for promotion in less than a year and 100 percent are eligible less than two years.
In Los Angeles, the survey also found that the average base pay for housekeeping attendants at select service hotels is $11.33 per hour and it’s $14.61 per hour at full service hotels. The average base pay for front desk agents at select services hotels is $11.75 hourly and the average base pay for stewards/dishwashers at full-service hotels is $15.47.
“The hotel sector is clearly the bright spot in our nation’s economy, and this survey underscores what we have known all along: hotel jobs are good jobs, with high wages, benefits and the opportunity to advance quickly into a life-long career,” said Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of AH&LA. “Hotel employees are the backbone of our industry.”
Currently, there are an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 job openings in the Los Angeles hotel sector, according to Randy Pullen, president and CEO of WageWatch Inc.
In 2009, Unite Here Local 11 conducted a campaign designed to get more African Americans working at local hotels again. Prior to 1980, Blacks were a staple in hotels around the nation.
The effort in 2009 included negotiating language into contracts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago that hotels in these cities would hire Blacks.
In Los Angeles, a 40-hour boot camp was held and an estimated 150 African Americans came to gain training working in the industry. There were 30 positions available, and a number of people were able to obtain jobs as a result of this effort. The union subsequently held a total of five boot camps.
According to union diversity organizer Donald Wilson, Unite Here is currently working on a number of efforts to train more African Americans to get into the industry. This includes building a training center that contains a simulated hotel room. They are also planning training sessions to get people geared up to work in hotels in Orange County. For information, call him at (213) 481-8530 ext. 264.
Wilson advises those looking for work in the hotel industry to think about transferring the skills you may have. Consequently, if you have worked as a cashier for Target, for example, you can use those same skills at a hotel. To obtain a job as bell man or working the front desk, you must have a cordial, friendly personality.
The union rep also notes that those with a felony need to either get it reduced or expunged in order to work in the industry.
