Background
10 years ago ethnic minorities had an employment rate of 57% whereas Great Britain as a whole had an employment rate of 75% - a gap of 18 percentage points.
During the years up to the recession ethnic minority employment had risen to 60% against a GB employment rate that had remained broadly flat over the same period. This had the effect of reducing the gap to 14 percentage points.
During the recession ethnic minority employment has proved to be quite resilient against a backdrop of falling employment in GB.
At the end of 2010 the ethnic minority employment rate was 61% with the employment gap standing at just under 12 percentage points.
The people behind the portal
This data portal has been developed by the Ethnic Minority Advisory Group (EMAG). EMAG sets up Task and Finish Groups to undertake specific areas of work, and the portal has been taken forward by the Areas Group, which is chaired by Jeremy Crook, OBE, Director of the Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG) and Deputy Chair of EMAG.