The Prague Post - 'Into a void': Young US college graduates face employment crisis

EUR -
AED 4.325935
AFN 82.295246
ALL 97.926243
AMD 452.928874
ANG 2.108041
AOA 1080.157743
ARS 1450.537772
AUD 1.798908
AWG 2.12321
AZN 2.007149
BAM 1.955925
BBD 2.378252
BDT 144.489211
BGN 1.955925
BHD 0.443228
BIF 3509.023701
BMD 1.177925
BND 1.500096
BOB 8.139519
BRL 6.38271
BSD 1.177875
BTN 100.523408
BWP 15.600995
BYN 3.854646
BYR 23087.331819
BZD 2.365951
CAD 1.60298
CDF 3398.314319
CHF 0.935405
CLF 0.028538
CLP 1095.129815
CNY 8.440309
CNH 8.439249
COP 4689.39895
CRC 594.837921
CUC 1.177925
CUP 31.215015
CVE 110.27203
CZK 24.646321
DJF 209.743371
DKK 7.461454
DOP 70.494494
DZD 152.109697
EGP 58.022699
ERN 17.668876
ETB 163.469121
FJD 2.637615
FKP 0.862849
GBP 0.862601
GEL 3.204416
GGP 0.862849
GHS 12.190777
GIP 0.862849
GMD 84.22618
GNF 10215.651249
GTQ 9.056577
GYD 246.42571
HKD 9.2463
HNL 30.773962
HRK 7.536412
HTG 154.649859
HUF 399.203326
IDR 19062.0084
ILS 3.939983
IMP 0.862849
INR 100.708477
IQD 1542.998366
IRR 49620.09495
ISK 142.446936
JEP 0.862849
JMD 188.001985
JOD 0.835195
JPY 170.275556
KES 152.179701
KGS 103.010002
KHR 4732.301685
KMF 492.373101
KPW 1060.132584
KRW 1604.946949
KWD 0.359609
KYD 0.981663
KZT 611.718997
LAK 25381.61808
LBP 105536.527962
LKR 353.392529
LRD 236.165056
LSL 20.719221
LTL 3.478107
LVL 0.712516
LYD 6.344404
MAD 10.572174
MDL 19.841265
MGA 5300.337897
MKD 61.533923
MMK 2473.327031
MNT 4221.285995
MOP 9.523607
MRU 46.74898
MUR 52.948179
MVR 18.14445
MWK 2042.530211
MXN 21.952406
MYR 4.972067
MZN 75.340533
NAD 20.719221
NGN 1802.15516
NIO 43.342763
NOK 11.864468
NPR 160.837253
NZD 1.944493
OMR 0.452069
PAB 1.177875
PEN 4.176666
PGK 4.86531
PHP 66.570482
PKR 334.365716
PLN 4.244948
PYG 9386.598396
QAR 4.304974
RON 5.059075
RSD 117.187471
RUB 92.85592
RWF 1693.207942
SAR 4.415727
SBD 9.820272
SCR 16.592058
SDG 707.348348
SEK 11.256846
SGD 1.500092
SHP 0.925664
SLE 26.444855
SLL 24700.50455
SOS 673.142913
SRD 44.036774
STD 24380.6712
SVC 10.306657
SYP 15315.295503
SZL 20.70332
THB 38.118091
TJS 11.45473
TMT 4.134517
TND 3.431819
TOP 2.758823
TRY 46.955033
TTD 7.988509
TWD 34.086841
TZS 3109.79825
UAH 49.123132
UGX 4225.269361
USD 1.177925
UYU 47.273014
UZS 14790.942924
VES 128.951587
VND 30838.07893
VUV 139.499805
WST 3.053192
XAF 655.99882
XAG 0.031783
XAU 0.000353
XCD 3.183402
XDR 0.815852
XOF 655.99882
XPF 119.331742
YER 285.234989
ZAR 20.722353
ZMK 10602.74357
ZMW 28.533819
ZWL 379.291399
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

'Into a void': Young US college graduates face employment crisis
'Into a void': Young US college graduates face employment crisis / Photo: Matthew Hatcher - AFP

'Into a void': Young US college graduates face employment crisis

Over two years, Rebecca Atkins filed more than 250 job applications, and felt like every one was going into a gaping chasm -- one opened by the highest unemployment rate for recent college graduates in the United States in more than a decade.

Text size:

"It was extremely dispiriting," said the 25-year-old, who graduated in 2022 with a degree in law and justice from a university in the US capital Washington. "I was convinced that I was a terrible person, and terrible at working."

At 5.8 percent, unemployment for young, recent graduates from US universities is higher than it has been since November 2013, excluding 15 months in the Covid pandemic, according to official data.

Moreover, it has also remained stubbornly higher than overall unemployment -- an extremely unusual situation, analysts say.

And while overall US unemployment has stabilized between around 3.5 and 4 percent post-pandemic, unemployment for recent college graduates is only trending higher.

The labor market for new grads has weakened consistently since 2022, with new hiring down 16 percent in 2025, year-over-year, according to payroll firm Gusto.

Analysts say the trend is likely a result of cyclical post-pandemic hiring slowdowns -- particularly in new-grad-heavy sectors like technology, finance, and business information -- and overall economic uncertainty in the tumultuous early days of the Trump administration.

That is scant consolation to the droves of young people -- often saddled with huge amounts of student debt -- on the hunt for their first full-time job.

"All of the jobs that I wanted, I didn't have the requirements for -- often entry-level jobs would require you to have four or five years of experience," said Atkins, who bounced between part-time roles and working in restaurants for years.

- 'Extremely high uncertainty' -

"It is definitely an outlier," said Matthew Martin, senior US economist at Oxford Economics. "You'd expect that the white collar positions would not be as exposed to cyclical downturns (as other jobs)."

Job openings for professional and business services have declined by more than 40 percent since 2021, according to research authored by Martin, with tech sector jobs disproportionately impacted.

"Part of that is a slower pace of hiring as they right-size after they hired at very high rates in 2022, but at the same time the sheer volume of decline also points to the impact of AI," he told AFP, signaling the potential of artificial intelligence technology to eliminate some entry-level roles.

Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, said slowing tech sector hiring as companies focus on holding on to their talent "disproportionately" affects recent graduates.

The hiring slowdown is also a result of US President Donald Trump's far-reaching policy swings since taking office in January, said Daco.

"The experience of extremely high uncertainty when it comes to the administration's trade, tax or other policies has caused many firms to potentially slow down or freeze their hiring."

He cautioned, however, against jumping to the conclusion that AI had already begun to eliminate entry-level roles, pointing to a so-far limited uptake of the technology by most sectors.

"The reality is that a lot of firms are still in the early stages of adoption of these new technologies, and I think it would be a bit premature to assume that we've reached a level of use... that would have a visible macro impact."

- 'Constantly working' -

The United States is perhaps the most expensive country in the world for a university education, with an average cost of $27,673 per year for an undergraduate degree, according to official data.

In 2020, 36.3 percent of US undergraduates took on federal student loans to help meet those spiraling costs, the data shows, with the Education Data Initiative putting average student loan debt for graduating students at $29,550.

Even without student loan debt, however, the weakening job market can leave some recent graduates feeling like they are stretched thin.

Katie Bremer, 25, graduated from American University with a dual-degree in Environmental Science and Public Health in 2021.

It took her more than a year to find a full-time job -- one not in her field -- and even then, she had to supplement her income by babysitting.

"I felt like I was constantly working," she told AFP.

"It seems overwhelming, looking at the costs, to try and make your salary stretch all the way to cover all the milestones you're supposed to reach in young adulthood."

There is little hope on the immediate horizon, with analysts warning that it will likely take some time for the labor market to resolve itself, with part of that adjustment likely seeing students picking different majors.

"It's likely to get worse before it gets better," said Martin.

Looking at her peers, many of whom are saddled with huge debt and struggled to find work, Bremer says she worries for their collective long-term future.

"There have been times where I've thought 'how is my generation going to make this work?'"

J.Marek--TPP