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C H A P T E R 13 Promoting Workforce Readiness for Urban Growth Laura W. Perna Between 2003 and 2009, the gap between the educational attainment of the population and the educational demands of available jobs (that is, “structural unemployment”) increased in all but four of the nation’s hundred largest metropolitan areas (Rothwell and Berube 2011). Given that a larger education gap between the demand and supply of educated workers is associated with a higher unemployment rate in the metropolitan area (2011), these data demonstrate the need to improve educational attainment in all metropolitan areas. Equally troubling, educational attainment tends to be lower for demographic groups that tend to be relatively overrepresented in our nation’s metropolitan areas’ central cities. The State of Metropolitan America report reveals a consistent pattern of racial/ethnic group differences: educational attainment is higher for Whites and Asians than for Blacks and Hispanics in all hundred of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas (Berube 2010a). These racial/ethnic group differences in educational attainment likely contribute to observed racial/ethnic group differences in unemployment and other labor market outcomes, as unemployment rates are notably higher for Blacks and Hispanics than for Whites (14.1 and 10.7 percent versus 7.3 percent in February 2012; Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012). As Edward Glaeser argues in his chapter in this volume, education is key to a city’s economic and social success. This chapter goes one step further. It argues that educational attainment is a reasonable proxy for workforce readiness and documents the low levels of workforce readiness in urban ar- Promoting Workforce Readiness for Urban Growth 243 eas. Recognizing some of the challenges associated with improving educational attainment, the chapter draws from a review of available data and research to offer seven recommendations for promoting workforce readiness of workers in our nation’s urban areas. What We Know: Educational Attainment Improves Labor Market Outcomes With higher levels of educational attainment come improved labor market outcomes in both central cities and suburbs of metropolitan areas. Table 13.1 shows that labor market outcomes are lower on average in central cities and that, on average, in the central city as for the metropolitan area as a whole, labor market outcomes improve as the level of educational attainment rises. As just one example, in 2009 labor force participation rates in Baltimore city ranged from 34.7 percent for those who had not completed high school, to 57.8 percent for those who had graduated from high school, to 70.4 percent for those with some college or an associate’s degree, to 73.6 percent for those who had completed at least a bachelor’s degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009). Unemployment rates also improve as educational attainment rose, declining in Baltimore (as one example) from 26.2 percent for those with less than high school, to 14.0 percent for high school graduates , to 6.8 percent for those with some college or an associate’s degree, to 4.9 percent for those with at least a bachelor’s degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009). Table 13.1 also shows that these patterns are replicated in other metropolitan areas and center cities across the United States. The benefits of higher levels of educational attainment are especially dramatic in an economic downturn. The negative implications of the Great Recession have been particularly severe for both individuals and metropolitan areas with the lowest levels of educational attainment (Berube 2010b). Even with the continued high overall unemployment rate in July 2011 (9.1 percent), unemployment rates were substantially lower for individuals who held a bachelor’s degree (4.3 percent) than for those who held only a high school diploma (9.3 percent) and those who did not complete high school (15.0 percent) (Rothwell and Berube 2011). Between 2007 and 2009, metropolitan areas with the highest levels of educational attainment experienced smaller declines in employment rates than other metropolitan areas, even among workers without a high school diploma (Berube 2010b). 18.224.39.74] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 14:24 GMT) Table 13.1. Labor Market Outcomes in Selected Metropolitan Areas for Noninstitutional Population Age 25 Years and Older, 2009 Annual Average Metro area Educational attainment Civilian labor force (%) Unemployment rate (%) Metro area Central city Metro area Central city Baltimore Less than high school 40.9 34.7 13.6 26.2 High school graduate 63.0 57.8 9.5 14.0 Some college/associate 74...

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