Poverty Rate Grows Amid Economic Boom (Washington, D.C.)

[Virginia Dare]

another "mission accomplished" moment for Bushco:

The District's poverty rate is the highest in nearly a decade, and the employment rate for African American adults is at a 20-year low, according to a study to be released today.

Although the District's robust economy has spurred job growth, higher salaries, a construction boom and neighborhood revitalization, the city's poorest and least-educated residents have been left behind -- living "on the other side" of the city's "gleaming economy," the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute says.

The institute's study, titled "D.C.'s Two Economies," also shows that the gap between high-wage and low-wage workers in Washington is at an all-time high, with salaries for the least-paid workers (adjusted for inflation) virtually unchanged in three decades. Income inequality in the District is greater than in every city in the United States other than Atlanta and Tampa, the study says.

The study's author, Ed Lazere, called the findings not only "striking and depressing," but also a clarion call for the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) to find ways to reach out to city residents "who are not succeeding . . . and who are not connecting to the economy."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/23/AR2007102302230.html