L.A. ISN'T SINGING INNER-CITY JOB BLUES.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer While nearly half of the nation's inner cities have steadily lost jobs over much of the past decade, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. added jobs, thanks to a thriving entrepreneurial culture among the growing immigrant community, a new Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. study found. Researchers in the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City said the nation's immigrant population was driving job growth in inner cities. They said immigrants are nearly one-third of the population of inner cities with the greatest employment growth. On average, immigrants are just 12 percent of the residents of inner cities that lost jobs, they said. ``There is a direct correlation Noun 1. direct correlation - a correlation in which large values of one variable are associated with large values of the other and small with small; the correlation coefficient is between 0 and +1 positive correlation between immigrant populations and job growth in inner cities,'' said Michael E. Porter, a Harvard Business School Harvard Business School, officially named the Harvard Business School: George F. Baker Foundation, and also known as HBS, is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. professor who founded the initiative in 1994 to help eliminate economic inequality
Economic inequality refers to disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. through private-sector engagement that leads to jobs, income and new wealth for residents of inner cities. Among the nation's 82 largest cities, Los Angeles was one of 42 in which jobs increased between 1995 and 2003. The release of the study came Monday, the same day President George W. Bush outlined his strategy to enhance America's homeland security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States by securing the borders, preventing illegal crossings and strengthening enforcement of immigration laws immigration laws npl → leyes fpl de inmigración immigration laws npl → lois fpl sur l'immigration immigration laws npl . ``This study puts a reality into the political debate,'' said John Trasvina, senior vice president of the Mexican American Mexican American n. A U.S. citizen or resident of Mexican descent. Mex  i·can-A·mer Legal
Defense and Educational Fund in Los Angeles. ``And our view is that we
need comprehensive immigration reform Immigration reform is the common term used in political discussions regarding changes to immigration policy. In a certain sense, reform can be general enough to include promoted, expanded, or open immigration, but in reality discussions of reform often deal with the aspect of , and the people already here
contributing to their communities ought to be able to stay as long as
they have fulfilled their responsibilities by keeping out of trouble and
paying their taxes.''
Jack Keyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the for the Economic Development Corporation of Los Angeles County, said the study validates what he sees occurring in the Los Angeles area. Immigrants tend to be entrepreneurial and hard-working, especially at small manufacturing firms with predominantly Latino work forces and high levels of productivity in construction, the hospitality industry, landscaping and gardening, and transportation. ``You have to put this into the context with the debate coming out of Washington, D.C., where President Bush wants to revisit the immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. issue,'' Keyser said. ``You have a lot of people upset along the border states Border States The slave states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri that were adjacent to the free states of the North during the Civil War. . ``This is a very emotional issue. Why do these people come here? They came because they are seeking opportunity, and they don't see it available in their homelands.'' In 40 of the nation's largest cities, the Harvard group found low-income tracts lost jobs in the 1995-2003 period despite years of federal programs designed to improve their economies. Four of the top-10 inner cities that outperformed their greater metropolitan areas were in California: Anaheim, Long Beach, Oakland and San Jose, said Deirdre M. Coyle, senior vice president of the initiative. Los Angeles and San Bernardino gained jobs but neither outperformed its greater metropolitan area. Initiative founder Porter said immigrants more readily identify and capitalize on the unique business conditions and opportunities that inner cities offer. Inner cities also attract small and large businesses seeking willing and available labor, he said. The research group defines inner cities as concentrations of U.S. census tracts in which the official poverty rate is at least 20 percent or else the poverty or unemployment rate is 1 1/2 times higher, and the median household income The median household income is commonly used to provide data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more. is at least 50 percent lower, than in the surrounding metropolitan area. Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization in the United States that advocates for reforms of U.S. immigration policies that would result in significant immigration reduction. , questioned the value of the study. Just any type of job growth ``doesn't mean all that much,'' he said. ``First of all, what kind of jobs?'' Mehlman asked. ``Not all jobs are equal. And in many cases you have people doing jobs where what they produce and the value they add doesn't really cover the societal costs of having them there. ``These are essentially subsidized jobs,'' he said. ``It allows the employer to hire somebody at a low wage and shifts the costs to taxpayers.'' Los Angeles is a prime example of that, he said. ``We have a school system that is collapsing, a public health care system that is collapsing, and infrastructure that is collapsing.'' Still, the study found one common characteristic of successful inner cities - clusters of businesses that support one another to ensure a vibrant local economy. The study found that job growth is being driven by several key local clusters of real estate, construction and development businesses, business services, hospitality establishments, community and civic organizations and educational opportunities. ``I think what is true in this area is true in areas throughout the West Coast and across the country as immigrants are affecting every family, community and business in this country,'' Trasvina said. ``Immigrants are forming businesses at high rates, and particularly small businesses are using immigrant labor to a great extent. So it demonstrates that once again immigrants are contributing to the economy.'' Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985 troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): box Box: Losing jobs in the inner city SOURCE: Harvard University Associated Press |
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