According to the Economic Policy Institute

“The 2001 recession pushed the white annual unemployment rate up from a low of 3.5% in 2000 to a high of 5.2% in 2003. During the same period, the black unemployment rate shot up from 7.6% to 10.8%. National recessions take African Americans from a bad situation to a worse one.

We can expect to see a similar trend in this recession.

Goldman Sachs estimates that a new recession would increase the national unemployment rate to 6.4% by 2009. For African Americans, the unemployment rate would be expected to rise to 11.0%. When white America is in recession, black America is in an economic depression.

Women also are harder hit by economic downturns. A report released this week by the National Women’s Law Center found that while women experience the same rising levels of unemployment, they are less likely to qualify for unemployment benefits. Women’s lower incomes mean rising energy and food costs consume a larger portion of their family budget.

Any ecomonic stimulus package that the government puts together need to include extended unemployment benefits and food assistance.