About half of Chicago black men ages 20 to 24 not employed

CHICAGO (AP) - A University of Illinois at Chicago report indicates almost half of black men in Chicago between ages 20 to 24 are neither working nor in school.

The findings of the study by the university's Great Cities Institute were presented Monday at an annual hearing on youth unemployment hosted by the Chicago Urban League.

Teresa Cordova says for young people in Chicago, especially blacks and Latinos, "conditions of joblessness are chronic." The highest concentrations of youth unemployment occur in neighborhoods on Chicago's South and West sides.

According to the report, unemployment rates in New York City and Los Angeles among young black men is 17-percent less than Chicago. Nationally, young black males are unemployed at 32 percent.

Organizations behind the hearing want government to commit to hiring jobless youth during the summer and beyond.