For African Americans, a college degree can substantially narrow the longstanding gap between their labor market experiences and those of whites. Last year, for example, when the national unemployment rate averaged 5.1 percent, the jobless rate for black adults (25 years and older) with a bachelor's degree or higher was 3.5 percent; for white adults, the jobless rate was 2 percent.
Between June 2003 and April 2005, the repo rate was lowered to 7 per cent, representing a total reduction of 650 basis points over the period. After remaining unchanged for 13 months, the repo rate was increased by 50 basis points at each of the  BIS Review 80/2006  3  MPC meetings in June and August this year.