DC Metro's Jobless Rate Up Sharply
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032701268.html?hpid=topnews
The District, Maryland and Virginia continued shedding jobs at a rapid pace in February, according to government data released yesterday, with D.C.'s unemployment rate rising to nearly 10 percent. ... African Americans "are the first to be laid off and the last to be rehired," said Anirban Basu, chairman and chief executive of Sage Policy Group, a Baltimore economic and policy consulting firm. Noting that the District also has a high proportion of undereducated and low-skilled residents, Basu added that employers figure that "people with less education attainment and less experience in the workforce are easy to replace."