Unemployment rates have made headlines since the great recession hit. News headlines generally focus on a single unemployment rate for the country, or sometimes to differences by race and ethnicity. Another way to look at unemployment is by the educational attainment of workers. The figure below presents historical unemployment rates by education.  The figure makes it clear that the least educated workers are the most vulnerable.  The graph also shows that the least educated workers experience disproportionately higher rates of joblessness when unemployment spikes.