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LATINO CIVIL RIGHTS FACT SHEETS

Fact Sheet:

Employment Discrimination

 

1.      In 1990, the Latino unemployment rate in the District of Columbia was 5.1%; in 2000, it was 3.6%. However, throughout the 1990s, there was dramatic fluctuation in the Latino unemployment rate, and that rate reached 9.2% in 1991 and 8.8% as recently as 1997.

 

2.      There has been a substantial gap between Latino and White unemployment rates in the District of Columbia every year over the last decade, with Latino unemployment sometimes more than twice as high. In 2000, Latino unemployment in the District averaged 3.6% as compared to a rate of 2.5% for whites. In 1997, the Latino unemployment rate was 8.8%, while the White unemployment rate was 2.9%.

 

3.      In 1992,  a study found that Latino applicants encountered discrimination based on their national origin more than 22% of the time they applied for jobs.

 

4.      A study conducted in 2002 found that Latino applicants still encountered discrimination about one quarter of the time they inquire about jobs.

 

5.      In private firms located in the District of Columbia with 100 or more employees or federal contractors with 50 or more employees, Latinos occupied only 2.9% of official and managerial positions in the year 2000, despite the fact that Latinos held 6.5% of the total jobs with those employers. In contrast, Whites occupied 73,9% of official and managerial positions while occupying 49,2% of the total jobs.

 

6.      The District employs 33,000 individuals but neither tracks nor makes information publicly available regarding the number of Latino employees employed by the District government.