On Friday, we received the dreaded news of the latest unemployment pain in the US. The media spun it as bad but better.
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However there is a very telling story beyond the top level data. It has to do with the unemployment rate as a function of education.
The Wall Street Journal did a important break out of the numbers by education. Here are the findings.
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The unemployment rate for workers over 25 years old who haven’t gone beyond high school rose to 10% in May, nearly doubling from 5.2% a year earlier, the government said Friday.
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Among workers who haven’t completed high school, the unemployment rate rose to 15.5%, compared with 8.4% last year.
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By contrast, the jobless rate among those with four-year college degrees was 4.8%, up considerably from 2.3% a year ago, but well below the rate for people with less education.
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Education clearly makes a difference.
If you did not buy into the reality of the above statistics,
Nicholas Kristof (click for article)
of the NY TIMES highlighted three groups within America who has used the pole vault of education to under gird their success. Nicholas was reviewing a
new, important book (click for Amazon site)
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Did you know that West Indian Blacks ( AKA , Jamaicans) earn on average 33% more than African Americans? The key factor is not IQ, but
- Hard work
- Intact families
- Fathers involved in child rearing.
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We are clearly in an era of changing opportunities, where we are re-considering many issues. Well, I hope we do not become mentally clouded and undermine the essential fundamentals . Remember, success leaves tracks!
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