The interesting facts and the information below are based on a report from US Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Their report ‘Labor Force Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity, 2008′ is compiled for the year 2008; however, the picture painted below is probably not far from what we have today, in 2009.
Also, note that there is no separate category for ‘Indian Americans’;  in this study, they are part the ‘Asian’ group. Here are the key highlights from the US Department of Labor report:

Occupation and industry

• Compared to Asians and whites, blacks and Hispanics are less likely to be in management, professional, and related occupations—the highest paying major job category.
• In 2008, half of Asian men worked in management, professional, and related occupations, compared with only 34 percent of white men, 23 percent of black men, and 15 percent of Hispanic men.
• Among women, in 2008, Asians were more likely than other groups to be employed in management, professional, and related jobs.
• About 46 percent of Asian women were employed in management and professional occupation group, compared with about 41 percent of white women, 31 percent of black women, and 24 percent of Hispanic women. In contrast, 64 percent of Hispanic women worked in service jobs and in sales and office jobs, compared with about 60 percent of black women, 53 percent of white women, and 46 percent of Asian women.
• Asians accounted for 5 percent of all employed workers but made up a much larger share of workers in several job categories, including computer software engineers (29 percent); physicians and surgeons (17 percent); and electrical, electronics, and electromechanical assemblers (18 percent).
• Asians were over-represented in professional and business services, in manufacturing, and in leisure and hospitality.

Unemployment and not in the labor force

• Among the major race and ethnic groups, Asians had the lowest unemployment rate of 4.0% in 2008. The blacks had the highest rate at 10.1 percent, 7.6 percent for Hispanics and 5.2 percent for whites.
• The unemployment rates were 4.9 percent for white adult men and 4.4 percent for white adult women. The jobless rates for Asian adult men and women were 3.9 and 3.5 percent, respectively. However, the rates for black adult men and women were 10.2 and 8.1 percent, respectively.
• Teenagers (ages 16 to 19) are especially vulnerable to joblessness. In 2008, black teenagers had the highest unemployment rate among the major race and ethnicity groups at 31.2 percent, compared with 22.4 percent for Hispanics, 16.8 percent for whites, and 14.6 percent for Asians.
• Unemployed blacks have been jobless for longer periods than unemployed workers in other groups. In 2008, the median duration of unemployment for blacks was 12.1 weeks, compared with 10.2 weeks for Asians, 8.8 weeks for whites, and 8.4 weeks for Hispanics.

Education

• About 90 percent of blacks and Asians in the labor force had received at least a high school diploma, the same proportion as whites. However, only about 68 percent of Hispanics had completed high school.
• Asians were most likely to have graduated from college; 58 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 34 percent of whites, 24 percent of blacks, and 16 percent of Hispanics.
• For all the groups, higher levels of education are associated with a greater likelihood of being employed.
• Individuals with higher levels of education generally have better access to higher paying jobs. However, at nearly every level of education, blacks and Hispanics were more likely to be unemployed in 2008 than Asians or whites. Go figure!

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