Brown University News Bureau

The Brown University News Bureau

1998-1999 index

Distributed April 19, 1999
Contact: Glenn Hare

Panel to look at national and local trends

National labor expert to discuss trends in minority employment

Harry Holzer, chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor, and local experts will examine minority hiring trends and other employment issues nationally and in Rhode Island Wednesday, April 28, at 8 p.m. The presentation is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Harry Holzer, chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor, will present a keynote address at Brown University Wednesday, April 28, at 8 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching. In addition, Holzer, who specializes in urban employment trends, will discuss labor market outcomes for different racial and ethnic groups with a panel of local experts. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America.

Holzer will examine such issues as lack of education and job skills, increasing residential and economic segregation, participation in illegal activity and persistent discrimination, which contribute to racial discrepancies in income, wealth and employment. He will give particular attention to the plight of African-American men and will note actions the Clinton administration is taking to address these problems.

Gordon Dash, associate professor of finance and insurance at the University of Rhode Island, and Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, will provide a local perspective on minority hiring and unemployment.

A professor of economics at Michigan State University, Holzer's research has focused on the unemployment problems of disadvantaged workers, particularly urban minorities. More recently he has focused on employer skill needs and hiring practices, and how these influence the employment outcomes of unskilled workers. His major publications include The Black Youth Employment Crisis and What Employers Want: Job Prospects for Less-Educated Workers.

This presentation is the last in a series of lectures and discussions that acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America this spring. The series, Race Relations in the New Millennium: Assessing the Present and Predicting the Future, has featured presentations by national, regional and local authorities on such topics as electoral politics, race relations, education, social attitudes, the criminal justice system, health care and employment.

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