Study Shows Complicated Picture of Asian-American Unemployment

A new study released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) finds that although Asian Americans have the lowest unemployment rate of the major racial groups, in reality, the picture of Asian-American unemployment is more complicated when examined by education level.

The EPI study – which looked at Asian-American unemployment rates in California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Texas – found that while collectively more-educated individuals tend to have lower unemployment rates, for Asian-Americans this is not necessarily the case.

Asian Americans with advanced degrees are more likely to be unemployed (4.8 percent) than Whites with advanced degrees (3.2 percent).  Asian Americans with bachelor’s degrees are also more likely to be unemployed (7.2 percent) than Whites with bachelor’s degrees (4.7 percent).

But while EPI’s study found that Asian Americans with advanced and bachelor’s degrees have a disadvantage, high school dropouts among Asian Americans have fared better compared to the national average of high school dropouts. While the average unemployment rate for high school dropouts was 14.3 percent, Asian-American high school dropouts have a lower unemployment rate of 8.8 percent. The study suggests that this could be due to the strong job networks in primarily Asian-American communities.

EPI concludes that its findings suggest that the complicated nature of Asian-American unemployment requires further study:

“This analysis raises numerous questions about whether there are significant differences in the occupations and industries of Asian-American workers in comparison with white workers that might explain the differences in unemployment rates. Also, it would be informative to examine the labor force participation rates and the relative wages of Asian American and white workers.”