ABSTRACT
From the Census Transportation and Planning Package (CTPP), a data set was constructed for a large, central portion of the Chicago metropolitan area, including the entire central city and most of surrounding Cook and DuPage Counties as well as a portion of northwestern Will County. A variable expected to be important to both neighborhood unemployment and local working is the occupational level of employed neighborhood residents. A scalar index was created to measure the average occupational level of each neighborhood's employed residents. It is difficult to address urban phenomena in most metropolitan areas without considering race. Chicago is known to be one of the most racially segregated metropolitan areas in the United States. Due to the literature on the relationship between race and employment status, race must be considered as a key independent variable. Unemployment problems are aggravated among adolescents and young adults, especially for black youth in central cities. Age is related to employment experience and occupation level.
