Getting a college degree doesn’t guarantee a good job like it used to
The overall job market is holding up pretty well, but it might not feel like it for new college grads.
Last week’s November jobs report signaled a still-strong labor market, but if you’re a recent college grad with a shiny new diploma, your reality might not be matching up with the overall mood.
According to the latest data from the New York Fed, the unemployment rate for recent grads (ages 22–27 with a bachelor’s or higher) climbed to 5.3% in September — the highest in over two years and up 90 basis points from last year. That’s more than double the 2.5% rate for all college graduates (ages 22–65), and it’s also significantly worse than the rate for the wider workforce, breaking a multi-decade period in which recent college grads generally had lower levels of unemployment.
One possible reason behind the downturn is that employers are simply cooling on college degrees. A report from job site Indeed found that only 17.6% of job postings in October demanded at least a bachelor’s degree, down from about 20% prepandemic, as more employers prioritize hard skills over simply having a degree.
Industries like tech, finance, media, and management — the typical magnets for recent grads — have also been freezing new hires or announcing layoffs since 2023. And it’s not just recent grads feeling the pinch right now: the college experience itself is losing its luster as well at a “concerning rate.” This fall semester, freshman enrollment for 18-year-olds in the US dropped more than 6% year over year according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
