Black unemployment and skills-based underemployment are still too high: Black workers are twice as likely to be unemployed as white workers, and black college grads are 28% more likely to be in a job that doesn’t require a college degree
| Race/ethnicity | Rate |
|---|---|
| 0% | |
| Black | 6.4% |
| White | 3.1% |
| 0% | |
| Black | 3.5% |
| White | 2.2% |
| 0% | |
| Black | 39.4% |
| White | 30.9% |
Notes: Estimates are based on a 12-month average (July 2018–June 2019). “Black” includes blacks of Hispanic ethnicity. Whites are non-Hispanic. College graduates in the bottom panel include those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Notes: Estimates are based on a 12-month average (July 2018–June 2019). “Black” includes blacks of Hispanic ethnicity. Whites are non-Hispanic. College graduates in the bottom panel include those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. See the methodology in Williams and Wilson 2019 for how “college occupation” is defined.
Source: Reproduced from Figure C in Jhacova Williams and Valerie Wilson, Black Workers Endure Persistent Racial Disparities in Employment Outcomes, Economic Policy Institute, August 2019.
Source: Reproduced from Figure C in Jhacova Williams and Valerie Wilson, Black Workers Endure Persistent Racial Disparities in Employment Outcomes, Economic Policy Institute, August 2019. Data reflect the authors’ analysis of Current Population Survey basic monthly microdata from the U.S. Census Bureau.