2011 jobs data by race and education, at a glance
Jan 6, 2012, 5:39 PM
| Unemployment dropped sharply for the least-educated Americans in 2011. |
| Whites, Asians and Hispanics also enjoyed better job prospects. But African-Americans lagged far behind, with their unemployment near its highest level in decades. |
| For workers without a high school diploma, seasonally adjusted unemployment slid from 15.1 percent to 13.8 percent. Among high school graduates with no college experience, it fell from 9.8 percent to 8.7 percent. |
| Unemployment among those with a college degree_ an associate’s, a bachelor’s or more _ did tick down but not as much. The rate for those with a bachelor’s degree or beyond declined from 4.8 percent to 4.1 percent. Five years ago, it was just 1.8 percent. |
| Among whites, unemployment declined from 8.5 percent to 7.5 percent. Asians reported the lowest unemployment rate among the four identified racial groups: It slid from 7.2 percent to 6.8 percent. (Unlike for other racial categories, unemployment for Asians, a smaller group, isn’t adjusted for seasonal factors.) |
| The rate for Hispanics fell most steeply among the racial groups, from 12.9 percent to 11 percent. But that’s because a disproportionate number of Hispanics have stopped looking for work and so aren’t counted as unemployed. Immigration has also declined sharply. That means there are fewer foreign-born job-seekers. |
| Unemployment among African-Americans was unchanged at 15.8 percent over the past year. |
| Unemployment rate (in percentages, seasonally adjusted) |
| December 2011 December 2010 |
| Total 8.5% 9.4% |
| White 7.5% 8.5% |
| Black 15.8% 15.8% |
| Hispanic 11.0% 12.9% |
| Asian 6.8% 7.2% |
| Less than a high school diploma 13.8% 15.1% |
| High school graduates, no college 8.7% 9.8% |
| Some college or associate degree 7.7% 8.2% |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher 4.1% 4.8% |
