April Jobs Report: Unemployment Rises Dramatically for High School Dropouts

In today's video blog I discuss the April jobs report that was released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report provides unemployment rates by educational attainment level. It can be found here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm. In today's economy, high school dropouts are three times more likely to be unemployed than college graduates.

If you have any comments or questions, please post them below in the comments section.

Measuring Joblessness Through An Educational Lens

On a recent episode of Weekend Edition, NPR reporter Zoe Chace covered unemployment through an educational lens.  Chace interviewed Rutgers University Economist Bill Rodgers who calls this a bifurcated economic recovery, explaining that people who have college degrees are getting hired but those who didn’t finish school are sitting on the sidelines. 

The story also cites research from the Economic Policy Institute showing that in 2007, before the recession, about 70 percent of people who attended some college, but didn't have a bachelor's degree were working but when the recession hit, that number dropped to about 65 percent and it keeps declining.

Morning Announcements: February 10, 2011

Yesterday the College Board released its 7th Annual AP Report to the Nation. The Wall Street Journal covered the study, writing, “As record numbers of high-school students are taking and passing Advanced Placement exams, a rising percentage are scoring at the lowest level possible.” To read about the results on a state-by-state basis, check out some of the headlines in: California, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

More state high schoolers graduating, but many still need remedial classes, according to the Denver Post.

Yahoo News asks, So why are the jobless numbers so high? 

Morning Announcements: November 4, 2010

In Colorado, a new accountability system shows that two-thirds of the state's schools are getting top grades, but 5 percent are in academic trouble, according to the Denver Post.

Some key teachers are leery of a new Louisiana law pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal that will link the job status of about 52,000 public school teachers to how students fare in math, English and other courses, The Advocate reports.

According to The Richmond Times-Dispatch, the opening of schools and colleges pushed down the unemployment rate in the Richmond area in September, and other metro areas in Virginia also saw jobless rates dip.

In Texas some students are finding that not all colleges accept dual-credit hours earned in high school, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Stats That Stick: October 13, 2010

The unemployment rate for high school dropouts aged twenty-five or older soared by 10 percent in September, meanwhile, the unemployment rate for college graduates actually dropped. -U.S. Department of Labor. Read more about these numbers in Jason Amos’ latest blog post. 

Minnesota has become the 38th state to adopt the common standards, but only in English/language arts, not in math. –Education Week

More than $9 billion was spent by state and federal governments to support students at four-year colleges and universities who left school before their sophomore year during a five-year period. -American Institutes for Research. To find out more, check out this blog post.

Although the recession technically ended in 2009, district budgets are not expected to regain their pre-recession (2008) funding levels until late in the decade. –The Center for Public Education

Stats That Stick: September 22, 2010

Through the Alliance's work and research, we come across some great statistics with major educational significance. Every Wednesday we will be posting our favorites here. Feel free to add in others in the comments section below.