A new EPI report show that one in four African American and Latino workers are currently underemployed compared to 14% of white workers. Those numbers include not only the government's official unemployment figures, but also account for discouraged and "involuntary part-time" workers.

An AARP survey also shows that older African American workers (over 45) have been hardest hit. According to the Seattle Times,

The data reinforces what many experts have said for months: that the recession is really a depression for many blacks, particularly in areas where black unemployment has surpassed or hovers around 20 percent.

Responding to an economy which normally maintains a national unemployment rate for black workers that is twice that of white workers, leaders have called on the federal government to take action.