Racial inequality in the British workplace - explained in two charts

Black and minority ethnic workers face far higher rates of unemployment than white workers despite having the same qualifications, new research from the TUC has found.

The study - "Black, qualified and unemployed" - looked at data from the 2015 Labour Force Survey to understand how educational qualifications impacted the employment opportunities among BME workers.

It found that more BME people, in some cases 23 per cent more, were unemployed than white people with the same qualifications.

The findings included - 6.5 per cent of BME people who did a bachelor's degree or foundation degree are unemployed compared to 2.6 per cent of white people; 28.6 per cent of BME workers who did a trade apprenticeship were unemployed compared to 5.5 per cent of white apprentices; and 15.6 per cent of BME people with A-levels were unemployed v 4.9 per cent of white people.

The disparity between BME and white unemployment was biggest in Yorkshire and Humberside, the West Midlands and the North West and smallest in Wales, the East and South East. The full results can be seen in this chart, put together by Statista.

The report said that institutional racism and discrimination in the labour market lie beneath these shocking figures.

Serious and urgent measures are required to prevent the further entrenchment of racial inequality in the labour market.

More: UK unemployment: What you need to know