November 11, 2010 | 3:14 PM | By

The Unemployment Rate for African American College Grads

FILED UNDER: Economy, Race and Class, Racial Divide

NazarethCollege

Even if you go to college and “do the right thing” by getting a degree, you still may find yourself out of work…especially if you are black:

Education is not a guaranteed path to wealth for any race or demographic. Still, education should be at least a more secure path towards finding employment. It should be but it is not so for many African American college graduates. According to the latest release by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among African American college graduates who are 25 and older is 7.3 percent…

As expected, since the year 2000 African American college graduates have always had the highest rates of unemployment. However, in 2006, during the nationwide housing boom, African American graduates narrowed the gap between their unemployment rate and the rates of the other races to less than one percentage point. However, as the economy worsened, that gap began to grow. Then between 2008 and 2009, the unemployment rate for African American college graduates jumped from an average of 4 percent to 7.3 percent.


Of course, the statistics are worse if you are a drop-out:

Those who have attained a degree are better off in the job market than those without one. While the unemployment rate for African Americans with college degrees stands at 7.3 percent, the unemployment rate for African American who drop out of high school is an alarming 21.3 percent. This is triple the rate for African American who have college degrees.

In fact, African American dropouts have the highest rate of unemployment among any segment and of any race.

About the author

DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi. View all posts by Anna →