Update: Unemployment Rates by Education

As if you needed more ammo in the “education matters” debate, take a look at your chances of becoming a disposable worker (a less than flattering way of saying unemployed) if you only have a high school diploma or you’re a high school dropout.

Graphic via Chart of the Day.

Granted, a 5% unemployment rate for college graduates isn’t ideal (especially when you have tens of thousands in student loan debt), but I’ll take those odds any day when compared to a 10% unemployment rate for those only holding a high school degree.

I don’t have any data to support my theory, but I’m thinking the unemployment rate for graduate degree (MS, MBA, PhD) and professional degree (MD, DO, DDS, JD) as a whole is lower than 5%. Although, MBAs and JDs might be lagging professions in this theory because I knew several MBAs (finance guys) who are out of work, and one JD that’s having difficulty landing a job in her last year of law school.