THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION OF NEGRO AND WHITE WORKERS IN METROPOLITAN AREAS WAS COMPARED BY USING DATA COLLECTED IN THE MARCH 1966 "CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY." POVERTY TRACTS IN THE LARGE METROPOLITAN AREAS WERE IDENTIFIED, AND EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONS LIVING THERE WERE COMPARED WITH THOSE OF CITY DWELLERS OUTSIDE THE POVERTY TRACTS. SOME FINDINGS WERE -- (1) THE AVERAGE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR WORKERS IN POVERTY AREAS WAS 7.5 PERCENT, ABOUT DOUBLE THE RATE FOR THE UNITED STATES AS A WHOLE, (2) THE TEENAGE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN POVERTY AREAS WAS NEARLY 25 PERCENT, (3) IN THE BIG CITIES OF AMERICA, MORE THAN HALF THE NEGROES BUT ONLY ONE-TENTH OF THE WHITES LIVE IN POVERTY AREAS, (4) IN SEVERAL RESPECTS, THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION OF WHITE WORKERS IN POVERTY AREAS WAS BETTER THAN THAT OF NEGRO WORKERS NOT LIVING IN POVERTY AREAS, (5) POVERTY AREA DWELLERS, NEGROES IN PARTICULAR, WERE CONCENTRATED IN LESS SECURE, LESS DESIRABLE, AND LESS REWARDING JOBS THAN THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN THE MORE AFFLUENT PARTS OF THE CITY, (6) OLD AGE AND SERIOUS DISABILITY WERE IMPORTANT FACTORS HOLDING WHITE MEN OUT OF THE LABOR FORCE AND KEEPING THEM IN POVERTY AREAS, WHILE AMONG NEGROES SERIOUS DISABILITY APPEARED TO BE THE KEY FACTOR, AND (7) AS OF MARCH 1966, A MINIMUM OF 260,000 ADDITIONAL JOBS WOULD HAVE BEEN REQUIRED TO REDUCE THE POVERTY AREA UNEMPLOYMENT RATES TO THE LEVEL OF THOSE OF WHITE RESIDENTS IN NONPOVERTY AREAS. THIS DOCUMENT APPEARED IN THE "MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW," OCTOBER 1966. (ET)