Economic gains have been undermined by the highest inflation rates in four decades, according to a new report from the Maine Center for Economic Policy.
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Maine’s focus on diversity in hiring may have been energized by this year’s national reckoning on race, as a variety of businesses and organizations in the state pledged to make it a priority, but it began with something more prosaic.
Historic unemployment among white workers the past several years meant jobs were going unfilled, and, so, attention turned to Maine’s people of color, whose unemployment numbers stubbornly remained in double digits.
“Up until this crisis moment, I think there were good intentions, but people didn’t really know they didn’t know,” says Deb Breiting, cofounder of Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants. Employers’ attitude was often, “We want to hire people as long as they have the skills to fit into our company culture.”