By Michelle Singletary

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the employment gap between young minorities and young whites continues to grow, reports Edward Wyckoff Williams, a contributing editor of The Root.

In 2011, 42.6 percent of African Americans and 32.6 percent Hispanics under 25 were underemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In contrast, 24.5 percent of young whites were underemployed. (The category of “underemployed” includes the longtime unemployed, people who’ve given up seeking work and part-time workers who want more hours.)

“It seems when it comes to underemployment, income disparity and wealth gaps, race matters more than education levels,” Williams writes. “And for generations X and Y, the nation’s progress toward racial equality over the past 50 years may not translate into dollars and cents.”

He goes on to say: “Employment, income and wealth are interconnected, and as African Americans experience deeply entrenched underemployment — regardless of the cause — the result is that a generation of people who hoped for greater prosperity than their parents faces diminished opportunity and higher levels of poverty.”

Read More Minority unemployment gap is still widening – The Washington Post.