Who Gets Construction Jobs and Where? Employment of African Americans, Hispanics and Total Minorities in the Construction Industry and Construction Trades in the Milwaukee MSA

Abstract

This report uses three decades of U.S. Census data to assess employment patterns by race/ethnicity in the construction sector and construction trades in the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, and the four-county Milwaukee MSA. Historical participation of African Americans and Hispanics in construction occupations are tracked for 1980, 1990 and 2000, using Census Special Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Tabulation files. Worksite analysis and maps using Census 2000 place-of-work data only recently made available show where whites, African Americans, and Hispanic workers are employed. Worksite employment is analyzed using place-of-work special tables from the Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP2000), released in 2004 and 2005. These data files allow a first-time examination of census place-of-work data from the perspective of central city neighborhoods and racial/ethnic groups.