Unemployment In Texas Has A Big Racial Component

The charts above were made using information in a new Economic Policy Institute report. They used numbers from the Labor Department.

The top chart shows the current unemployment rate in Texas compared to the pre-recession numbers of the fourth quarter of 2007. One would expect that Texas had fully recovered from the recession, since Texas is ruled by Republicans and had instituted all of the GOP's magic formula for job creation (low taxes on rich and corporations, low minimum wage, right to work law, etc.).

But the "economic miracle" state (claim of Republicans) still has not fully recovered from the recession. Whites and Blacks have come the closest to recovering to pre-recession numbers (with both groups about 0.1% above those pre-recession numbers). Hispanics (+0.8%) and Asians (1.4%) still have a bit more to go to reach those numbers.

But it is the second chart I think is the most important. It shows that unemployment in the GOP "miracle" state has a definite racial/ethnic component. While Whites are doing fairly well with an unemployment rate of 3.5%, other groups are not. Blacks (8%) have more than twice the unemployment rate of Whites. Hispanics (5.3%) and Asians (4.3%) also show significantly higher unemployment rates than Whites.

The problem with Texas Republicans is the same as with national Republicans -- the policies they follow are not designed to be racially equal. They are designed to favor their almost completely White base.