A new study released today by the U.S Census Bureau confirms what many already thought; the recession hit poor and middle class families the most.

According to an article about the story published by the Associated Press and picked up by other news outlets, “the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans — those making more than $138,000 each year — earned 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living near or below the poverty line in 2008, according to newly released census figures. That ratio was an increase from 11.2 in 2007 and the previous high of 11.22 in 2003.”

The report also indicates the national median income has decreased around $2,000 for every family in the poor/middle class demographic, while “income at the top 5 percent of households — those making $180,000 or more — was 3.58 times the median income, the highest since 2006.”

The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 8.5 percent in March as the economy lost 663,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported on Friday. But the Black unemployment rate remained relatively steady, dropping slightly from 13.4 percent to 13.3 percent. More than 5 million jobs have now been lost since the recession began in December 2007, and almost two-thirds (3.3 million) of the job losses took place in the last 5 months. The total number of unemployed persons increased to 13.2 million, the government said on Friday. The stable numbers among African Americans may mark a temporary reprieve or could indicate that unemployment is already so high in the Black community that the job crisis has already caused much of the harm before it reached the overall population. The Labor Department estimates that the first quarter unemployment rate for African Americans was 13.1 percent, higher than for any other racial or ethnic group. Last month, the government reported the Black unemployment rate for February reached the highest rate since June 1993. The Bureau of Labor Statistics maintains Black unemployment data back to 1972 on its Web site, and the records indicate that the rate reached its lowest level on record in April 2000 when it dropped to 7.0 percent, a figure still significantly higher than the 3.8 percent overall unemployment rate at the time.

Wilder Presses for Slavery Museum

Richmond, Va., Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, himself the grandson of former slaves, is pushing harder than ever to see a national slavery museum erected in the Virginia town of Fredericksburg. Despite financial obstacles, Wilder, who in 1989 was the first African American elected governor, has acknowledged the fundraising difficulties that the U.S. National Slavery Museum is having, but rejected the notion that the facility might be put in Shockoe Bottom, where remains of a slave jail recently were unearthed. Read more.

Dodger Stadium Draws More than Baseball Fans
Some 10,000 job-hungry gig hunters turned out at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, an indication of just how tough times are in large American cities where there’s a whole lot more firing than hiring these days. The job fair, sponsored by the city of Los Angeles and the California Employment Development Department, was hosted by such firms as Coca-Cola, Lowe’s and Union Bank, as well as government agencies including the FBI, the Social Security Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers. A couple weeks ago, a two-day job fair drew an astonishing 7,000 applicants to vie for a measly 500 part-time jobs. In California, the unemployment rate is a staggering 10.1 percent, roughly 2 percent higher than the national rate. About a half-million Californians have lost their jobs in the past year, according to the state Employment Development Office. “We are not seeing as many job opportunities as we saw a year ago,” Gloria Bratton Moore, who runs the state-funded Work Source job center in Los Angeles, told CNN. Still, she noted, “There are jobs available.”

The $28 billion from the stimulus package going to road-building across the United States will also serve to create or save 150,000 jobs by the end of 2010, President Barack Obama said during his first visit to the Department of Transportation Tuesday accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden. Click for more.

A scaled back version of President Obama’s Recovery and Reinvestment plan is expected to pass in the Senate as early  Monday as it did in the House about a week ago.  Sources say about $780 Billion will be approved.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass), who hasn’t been on the Hill since he collapsed after Pres. Obama’s inauguration, is expected to show up for the vote. Democrats need at least two Republicans to vote on the bill in order for it to pass. This time, though, Pres. Obama is pushing for as many Republican votes and broader agreement on the bill so that he has true bi-partisan support for his agenda. No Republicans voted for the bill in The House.  

Critics say the bill is wasteful and has a lot of spending but not enough of it targeted to initiatives that would jump start the economy. They feel tax cuts would work better and worry about the huge amount of the debt and how it will be a burden to future generations.  

Supporters say just tax cuts won’t drive spending. They believe money allocated in the bill for building projects, computer networks, social programs and improving education in lower income communities will provide jobs and money where they are needed most and get the the middle class and the economy moving again.

Watch The Video: President Obama Speaks Directly to America About His Recovery Plan

Talk About It: Do you think Obama’s stimulus plan will improve your life?

Obama has an ambitious jobs plan. President-elect Barack Obama has an ambitious goal in mind when it comes to creating jobs over the next couple years. With the economy flying apart at the seams, 3 million to 4 million jobs could dry up over the next year, spiking the unemployment rate to an astronomical 9 percent, according to Vice-President-elect Joseph Biden. In what has become the worst economy since World War II, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler have announced that they will close five dozen manufacturing plants over the next month – mainly because Americans have stopped buying cars. Read the rest here.

Portland preachers stand strong against violence. About a dozen Black Portland, Ore., preachers, fed up with the street violence rocking their city, have taken to the streets to demand that the gangbangers drop their guns and usher in a new era of peace. “The issue is urgent. Our house is on fire. Our children are dying. We need to take immediate action,” said the Rev. LeRoy Haynes Jr., at Northeast Portland’s Allen Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. His call comes a week after the fatal shooting of a 30-year-old on Dec. 12, inside of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. In this “unthinkable travesty,” as the Rev. Robert C. Jointer of New Hope calls it, Darshawn Cross, a gang member, was attending a noon funeral service when he got into a fight with Latwan Brown, a member of a rival gang. Police and witnesses said Cross suspected Brown was the man who shot him in the stomach four months ago. Brown was handed a gun by somebody else at the service and unloaded four shots into Cross, who slumped to the floor of the church. The pastors want the violence to stop and for Brown to turn himself in to authorities. “We call upon Latwan Brown to surrender himself to the Portland Police Bureau and take responsibility for the actions he has done,” Haynes said. “We plead to the family members to encourage him to surrender. Then we call upon the witnesses to do their moral and civic responsibility by contacting police.”

The European Union will open a job center in Africa.

In a move to cut down illegal immigration, the European Union is set to open its first immigration center in Africa, reports the BBC. The center will be in Mali. Each year, thousands of West Africans (often crammed into small boats) die attempting to make the dangerous journey to European countries in search of jobs. The organization hopes that the center will help Africans find legal jobs in Europe, so they don’t have to risk their lives making the trip. In addition, the center will provide information on how to come to Europe legally and assist with job training, the European Commission says. Even college graduates in many West African nations have hard time finding jobs and many times even a basic “low wage” job in Europe will go long way towards supporting their families.