Ethnic minority graduates twice as likely to be unemployed

Black, Asian and minority ethnic workers who have a university degree are two and a half times more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts, according to new analysis published by the TUC.

Official statistics show the unemployment rate for white workers with degrees is 2.3 per cent. It rises to 5.9 per cent among graduates from ethnic minorities, reports the Times Higher Education.

The TUC has also found that jobless rates are much higher for minority groups "at every level of education". The findings follow another TUC report released in February which revealed that black workers with degrees are paid nearly a quarter less than their white peers – the equivalent of a £4.33 an hour discrepancy.

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"Not only is this wrong, but it is a huge waste of talent. Companies that only recruit from a narrow base are missing out on the wide range of experiences on offer from Britain's many different communities," said the TUC.

Frances O'Grady, the TUC's general secretary, called on the government to "recognise the scale of the problem".

The TUC also set out a list of proposals to redress the situation, including widespread use of anonymised application forms, mandatory publication of staff ethnicity figures in annual reports and the use of public sector contracts to improve companies' race equality practices.