Unemployment

Outstanding economic news continues for the nation's largest ethnic minority – Hispanic Americans - with the unemployment rate for this segment of the population remaining at a record-low of 4.2% in May. Yet for the Spanish-language sister network of NBC, Telemundo, this historically low rate was not even worth mentioning on its national evening news.

In spite of the disappointing May jobs report showing only 75,000 new jobs, MarketWatch and CNBC reported signs of continued strength in the labor market that could help ease economic jitters. MarketWatch reporter Jeffry Bartash asked, “Has the U.S. labor market really taken a big turn for the worse?” and answered, “A new pair of employment reports suggest the answer is no.” He cited a private…

Even liberal newsrooms have to grapple with economic realities, as Vox Media may be learning.

Last week's column discussed Dr. Thomas Sowell's newest book Discrimination and Disparities, which is an enlarged and revised edition of an earlier version. In this review, I am going to focus on one of his richest chapters titled “Social Visions and Human Consequences.” Sowell challenges the seemingly invincible fallacy “that group outcomes in human endeavors would tend to be equal, or at least…

During the Trump administration Hispanic unemployment has hit five all-time record lows, but the nation’s number one Spanish-language television newscast, Noticiero Univision, once again blew off the latest blockbuster economic news for the country’s largest minority group, which participates in the American labor force at a higher rate than any other segment of the U.S. population.

April was a great month for jobs with another upside surprise. CNN reported on May 2, that it was expected to be “a healthy but unspectacular” 185,000 jobs. Unemployment was expected to remain at 3.8 percent. MarketWatch was expecting a “robust increase” of around 213,000 jobs.

Just minutes after the April jobs report was released Friday morning, showing the unemployment rate dropping to its lowest point since 1969, MSNBC fretted that the booming economy would be a serious political “challenge” for Democrats in 2020. Anchor Chris Jansing went to work trying to take credit away from the Trump administration and downplaying the numbers.

Given the very few job gains in February and rampant media speculation in March about a coming recession, it was essential that all three evening news shows update their audiences about jobs and unemployment April 5. But not all of them did.

The strong March jobs report “should end” concerns that a recession is “lurking” as one Hill op-ed suggested March 1. The media worried and speculated over recession throughout the entire month of March. The government released the March jobs report on April 5, showing 196,000 jobs added — more than 20,000 higher than expected. It also showed unemployment holding steady at 3.8 percent.

Some Americans have much higher income and wealth than others. Former President Barack Obama explained, “I do think at a certain point you've made enough money.” An adviser to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who has a Twitter account called “Every Billionaire Is A Policy Failure” tweeted, “My goal for this year is to get a moderator to ask ‘Is it morally appropriate for anyone to be a billionaire…

Latino news networks in the United States exist for one sole reason: to inform Hispanics who prefer watching relevant content in Spanish. As such, it would seem only natural for major economic news directly affecting that viewership to occupy headlines on the nation’s top Spanish-language media outlets. Yet, as MRC Latino has repeatedly noted, the subject is consistently either ignored or under-…

There was good news in the latest jobs report. The national unemployment rate fell back to 3.8 percent in February, although the numbers of jobs added was well below expectations. The Hispanic unemployment rate also fell to a new record low of 4.3 percent. But that record didn’t make it into any of the network evening shows that night.

MRC Latino is mostly known for its constant drumbeat pointing out and countering slanted or dishonest reporting in the U.S. Hispanic news segment. In recent months, the critique has often included the relative dearth of reporting on U.S. economic news.

Jobs growth has been one of the brightest economic growth points under President Donald Trump’s administration. Even the year after many economists anticipated the U.S. was “at or near” full employment, monthly jobs gains continued to add up. What hasn’t added up is the evening news shows giving the president or his policies credit for helping spur that jobs boom.