Giving Compass' Take:

• Robert Doar offers advice for employers interacting with workers who have been unemployed for an extended period of time as low unemployment brings in new workers. 

• How can funders help to connect workers and employers to benefit both parties? What training and support can funders offer to ease the transition from unemployment to employment? 

• Learn about organizations working to reintegrate formerly incarcerated individuals into society. 

The labor force participation rate among black men is nearly 65 percent, up from 62.2 at this point five years ago. And the teen unemployment rate for African-Americans has dropped by nearly 4 percentage points over the last year alone. Black teenage boys especially have benefited, with their unemployment rate dropping by 20 percent. Unemployment for those with no more than a high school diploma has also dropped in the past year, from 4.2 percent to 3.3 percent.

With unemployment below 4 percent and more job openings than there are people to fill them, employers are pulling in people who spent time in prison, people who have struggled with addiction, people with disabilities, and people who simply have not held a job for a long time, if ever — and that’s something to celebrate. It is also worth celebrating that average hourly earnings in retail are now $16.15, up 4.5 percent in the past 12 months.

Employers, for one, need these employees to stay with them to help keep up with customer demand. I am hoping that employers will do a little more on their employees’ behalf. First, they need to be patient: Employees make mistakes, but they need second chances in order to become better workers. Second, training employees to excel with soft and hard skills gives them a reason to stay on board longer and will be useful to them in their current role and in future employment.

Read the full article about new workers by Robert Doar at American Enterprise Institute.