Higher education typically lowers a worker’s chances of being unemployed but does not eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in unemployment rates: Unemployment rate by race/ethnicity and educational attainment, 2019
| Education level | White | Black | Hispanic | AAPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less than high school | 8.4% | 14.7% | 5.7% | 4.4% |
| High school | 3.8% | 7.6% | 4.5% | 2.7% |
| Some college | 3.0% | 5.4% | 4.0% | 3.5% |
| College | 2.1% | 3.8% | 3.2% | 2.8% |
| Advanced degree | 1.8% | 2.7% | 2.1% | 2.2% |
Notes: AAPI refers to Asian American and Pacific Islander. Race and ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive (i.e., white non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, AAPI non-Hispanic, and Hispanic any race).
Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Population Survey basic monthly microdata from EPI Microdata Extracts, Version 1.0.24 (2021); https://microdata.epi.org.