Business · Economy · 2 hrs ago
42% of recent US college graduates are underemployed
About 42% of recent US graduates were underemployed in June, meaning they held jobs that typically do not require a bachelor’s degree.
Their unemployment rate was 5.7%, compared with 4.1% for all workers, and recent graduates have had higher unemployment than other workers every month since January 2021.
The figures vary by major: criminal justice graduates had the highest underemployment rate, while special education graduates had the lowest jobless rate.
Some researchers describe a wider problem as elite overproduction: more people seek high-status work than there are positions available.
The story connects that frustration to youth protests in different countries, including Nepal, where a social media ban sparked deadly protests in 2025 amid anger over privilege and youth unemployment.
At least 76 people died in Nepal, and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned.
The figures and examples point to pressures on young people, but the story does not say what will happen next.
About 42% of recent US college graduates ages 22 to 27 were working in jobs that typically do not require a bachelor’s degree in June, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York tracker.
The underemployment rate was up from 41.8% in May but below 42.4% in November 2025 and a pandemic-era high of 43.4% in October 2020.
Recent graduates’ unemployment rate was 5.7% in June, compared with 4.1% for all workers.
Underemployment and unemployment rates varied by college major, with criminal justice graduates having the highest underemployment rate and special education graduates the lowest unemployment rate among the listed majors.
The article links the difficulties facing graduates to Peter Turchin’s theory of “elite overproduction,” in which too many people pursue elite status for the number of available positions.
- Who
- Recent US college graduates ages 22 to 27.
- What
- About 42% were underemployed in June, working jobs that typically do not require a bachelor’s degree.
- When
- June; the year is not stated in the article.
- Where
- The United States.
- Why
- The article points to a mismatch between the number of graduates seeking degree-level work and the jobs available. It cites Peter Turchin’s theory of “elite overproduction.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The gap between recent graduates’ and all workers’ unemployment rates reached a record 1.8 percentage points.
Nepal banned 26 social media platforms, and protests followed within days.
Recent college graduates’ underemployment rate was 42.4%.
Recent college graduates’ underemployment rate was about 42%, and their unemployment rate was 5.7%.
- Underemployment
- About 42% of recent graduates ages 22 to 27 in June
- Recent graduates’ unemployment
- 5.7% in June
- All workers’ unemployment
- 4.1% in June
- Highest underemployment by major
- Criminal justice, 65.8%
- Lowest listed unemployment by major
- Special education, 0.7%
- Nepal protests
- At least 76 people died
What people are saying
It’s actually everywhere you look
Look at the overproduction of university degrees
a wave of prolonged and intense sociopolitical instability
The overproduction of lower-ranking elites results in decreased benefits for all