A Look at the Racial Gap in Employment by Levels of Educational Attainment

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows data on labor force participation, employment, and unemployment by educational attainment. And the data is broken down by racial and ethnic groups.

In October 2017, 47.1 percent of African Americans who had graduated from high school earlier that year had entered the civilian labor force, compared to nearly 50.3 percent of Whites who had graduated from high school in 2017. But 16.6 percent of recent Black high school graduates were unemployed compared to 12.9 percent of Whites who had recently graduated from high schools. The Labor Department defines unemployed people as actively seeking work but unable to find it.

For African Americans 16 to 24 years of age who were enrolled in college in October 2017, 41.7 percent also were employed. For Whites in this age group who were enrolled in college, 49.7 percent also held jobs. For Blacks ages 16 to 24 who were enrolled in college, the unemployment rate was 11.2 percent compared to 5.1 percent for similarly aged Whites who were enrolled in college.

For African Americans aged 20 to 29 who were college graduates in October 2017, 65.2 percent were employed. For White college graduates ages 20 to 29, 80.6 percent were employed. The unemployment rate for African American college graduates in this age group was 21.6 percent, compared to only 8.8 percent for White college graduates of similar age.

Thus, young African American college graduates were nearly 2.5 times as likely to be unemployed than their White peers.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Concordia University in Canada Launches New Minor in Black and African Diaspora Studies

Christian Abraham, director of the new minor at Concordia University, says, "there is so much to do within this emerging field of Black Canadian studies. There are lots of grounded and creative sites to work with and from, including our extensive archives at Concordia. It is a very exciting field and a historic moment for Black studies in Canada.”

New Report Sets the Baseline for Future Studies on the Effect of Texas’ DEI Ban on College Campuses

"Ensuring all Texas students have the opportunity to succeed will directly strengthen our workforce and economy," write the report's authors. "While it’s too early to assess the impact of SB 17, continuous monitoring of student outcomes is critical to improving efficiency and maximizing the potential of our future workforce."

Robert Jones Named the First Black President of the University of Washington

Dr. Jones is slated to become the University of Washington's first Black president on August 1. He comes to his new role from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he has served as the institution's first Black chancellor for the past nine years.

Study Uncovers More Evidence That Black Students Are Overrepresented in School Discipline

In an examination of six different kinds of school discipline and punishment, three comparison groups, and 16 subpopulations, a new study has found that "no matter how you slice it, Black students are overrepresented among those punished and excluded."

Featured Jobs