Bloomberg — Job openings are near record highs in the US and unemployment is close to a generational low. However, one group is more vulnerable than the average: young college graduates.
Since the start of 2021, the unemployment rate for those age 22 to 27 with a bachelor’s degree or higher has surpassed the national average every single month, according to data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Friday. The gap was 0.6 percentage points last month.
Pandemics exacerbated an already established trend, which began in 2018, when graduates were deprived of the nearly 30 years-long labor market advantage. Data show that from 1990 to 2018, their chances of getting a job were higher than those who worked in the same industry.
The summer of 2020 was the most difficult time for young educated Americans. This is when many millions of graduates graduated during the height of the Covid-19 crises. Many got laid off by their employers when the economy crashed.
The gap between the young and old has been widening in recent months, despite the fact that employment rates have improved since the recovery of the economy. The overall unemployment rate was smoothed using a 3-month moving average. In March it was 3.8%. Recent graduates were at 4%. In June, the national rate fell to 3.5% and that for young graduates had increased to 4.1%.
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