Chapter 4. A Labor Force that Learns

Figure 4-5. Unemployment rates, by education, race and ethnicity, 2007

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2007 annual averages.
NOTE: Includes workers age 25 year and over.

• Higher educational attainment is associated with lower unemployment rates regardless of race or ethnicity.  For all races, lower rates of unemployment are correlated with higher levels of education.  The unemployment rate, however, is particularly lower for African-American college graduates than African-American high school dropouts – 3.0 percent for college graduates versus 12.0 percent for those without a high school diploma (or GED certificate).
   
• The relative cost of being a high school dropout has grown in terms of unemployment risk.  The unemployment rate for high school dropouts spiked in the early 1980s, and while trending downward somewhat since then, it is still considerably higher than for other groups.  The jobless rate for college graduates has been consistently lower and less subject to business cycle fluctuations than the unemployment rates associated with lower educational attainment.  The gap in unemployment rates between those with a 4-year college degree and those without a high school diploma has increased from 3.3 percentage points in 1970 to 5.1 percentage points in 2007.

Table of Contents