According to the most recent data, the unemployment rate for recent college grads in the United States has risen to 5.8%. It is the highest level we’ve experienced since November of 2013, excluding a brief jump during the COVID pandemic. This jump underscores the challenges that young job seekers are up against. They’re trying to find their footing in a labor market that has been on a slow decline since 2022. This hiring slowdown is occurring for multiple reasons. Policy changes made during the Trump administration and a rapid drop-off in job openings as a result—with notable drops in tech, especially—have massively impacted this trend.
Rebecca Atkins, another recent USF graduate, is a perfect illustration of the hardship gnawing on most graduates in her class. After over two hundred fifty applications sent out over the course of two years, she eventually landed in a full-time role. The job didn’t match her degree. To make ends meet, Atkins supplemented her income by babysitting, reflecting the broader challenges recent graduates encounter in finding suitable employment.
Katie Bremer, another recent American University graduate, seconded that sentiment. Though Bremer has degrees in environmental science and public health, the future still looks bleak. “There have been times where I’ve thought ‘how is my generation going to make this work?’” she stated, highlighting the anxiety that many young adults feel in today’s job market.
The Financial Burden of Education
The monetary effects of higher education only add to the burden for recent graduates. In the United States, the average annual cost of earning an undergraduate degree amounts to $27,673. Unfortunately, many students – especially those from low-income communities – rely on federal loans to afford their education. In 2020, 36.3 percent of undergraduates graduated with this kind of debt. As a result, the average graduating student’s debt load climbs to an alarming average of $29,550 per student.
These financial burdens start to stack further pressure on young graduates to find a job, often. Unfortunately, too many of them end up having to fight for jobs that need years, sometimes decades, of experience, even more than the entry-level roles tend to ask for.
“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.” – Rebecca Atkins
As recent graduates Atkins and Bremer might tell you, the mounting pressure becomes apparent as student loan payments are about to start again. It has made finding meaningful work among their highest priorities.
A Shifting Labor Market
One major problem is that the labor market for new graduates has seen a significant shrinkage in recent years. New hiring has plummeted by 16% YOY as of August 2025, per payroll firm Gusto. Job openings in professional and business services are down more than 40 percent from the peak of 2021. This sudden, fast drop-off has made getting onto the workforce even more difficult for newcomers.
Economists explain some of this drop as a result of firms retrenching their hiring practices after an unusual spike in recruitment in 2022. Beyond their immediate impacts, they highlight some important trends, like how artificial intelligence is affecting the creation and retention of jobs.
“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.” – Anonymous Source
Matthew Martin, a Senior US Economist at Oxford Economics, underscores the uncertainty that hangs like a shroud over today’s economic landscape. So be it, McCarthy warns, but things will get worse long before they start getting better.
“It’s likely to get worse before it gets better,” – Matthew Martin
These kinds of proclamations add fuel to the perception that the road ahead will be paved with challenges for recent graduates.
Navigating Uncertainty and Anxiety
The ambiguity about future economic policies and the state of the labor market overall has made many firms wary of adding to their payroll. The current administration’s trade and tax policies are up in the air at the moment. Accordingly, a number of firms will likely choose to stop hiring altogether.
“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.” – Anonymous Source
For graduates such as Bremer and Atkins, this environment breeds insecurity and anxiety about their professional futures. Bremer reflected on her experience: “I felt like I was constantly working,” indicating her relentless pursuit of employment despite the barriers she faced.
Atkins similarly expressed her struggle with self-worth during her job search: “I was convinced that I was a terrible person, and terrible at working.” Millions of young adults are feeling these pangs. Yet, against a backdrop of an increasingly difficult economic environment, they are charting a course for themselves personally and collectively.