The TUC analysis of the Labour Force Survey coincides with its annual Black Workers' Conference.
The figures show the unemployment rate for black and asian workers increased from 10.2% in October-December 2007 to 13% in the same quarter last year (a figure almost twice as high as the 7.1% unemployment rate for white individuals).
The research reveals an even bleaker picture for young people from ethnic minority backgrounds, with the unemployment rate for 18-24 year-olds leaping from 20.1% in 2007 to 30.5% in 2010. In contrast, the unemployment rate for white youngsters stands at 16.4%.
And while there are still more black young men out of work that women - at the end of 2010 there were almost 63,000 young males without jobs compared to just over 53,000 young women - the rate of increase in unemployment over the three years since 2007 has been a shocking 68% for young black women, with a 24% increase for men.
The figures also show that around 640,000 black and Asian people work in the public sector, so significant cuts to public spending will only make the situation worse, says the TUC. It estimates that public sector job cuts of around 20% would be likely to put around another 127,000 black workers on the dole.
Speaking at the conference, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber (pictured) said: "Black workers are bearing the brunt of Britain's jobs crisis. It's a truly desperate situation, with the unemployment rate for workers from ethnic minority backgrounds almost twice the level for white workers.
"It gets even worse for black youngsters - almost one in three are without work. That's not just a terrible waste of talent, but evidence of persistent discrimination within the labour market.
"Around 640,000 black people are employed in our public services, and with redundancies there now coming through thick and fast, and access routes to further and higher education being closed off, these figures are set to get even worse.
"So whether it's the mass cull of public sector jobs, huge cuts to welfare, changes to housing benefit, the scrapping of education maintenance allowances, the trebling of student tuition fees, or the hike in VAT, the evidence is clear - black people will pay a very heavy price for this government's policies. Inequality will rise, poverty will increase, and social mobility - to the extent it exists any more - will be further undermined."
