The national unemployment rate just dropped to 9.7% in January 2010. Thats still a high number but it is good to see it go down if only marginally. The unemployment rate differs substantially between people with college degrees and those with a high school diploma or those who failed to finish High School.
You can get unemployment data from the BLS. You can break down unemployment figures based on sex, race, education level and age. They only break it up for education level for people over 25 years old, so all the data below is for people over 25 years old.
Current unemployment rates for January 2010:
High School Drop outs = 15.2%
High School grads = 10.1%
College Degree holders = 4.9%
The unemployment rate for people with college degrees is around half the national average. High school drop outs are unemployed significantly more than people with more education.
If you look back over the past 10 years the trend is pretty consistent.
The ability to obtain and keep employment is another benefit of education. College grads have a clear advantage in much lower employment rates.
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