The underemployment rate for recent college graduates has been increasing since 2003 and now stands at a whopping 46 percent, according to a recent “Liberty Street Economics” post on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York website.
The authors of the post define the underemployment rate as “the share of graduates working in jobs that typically don’t require a college degree,” pointing out that despite the fact that the unemployment rate for recent graduates has declined over the last three years, the underemployment rate continues to go up.
Today’s underemployment rate for recent college graduates is an incredible 46 percent. Furthermore, the same rate for college graduates in general is still quite high, at 35 percent.
Coming on the heels of this data is the Department of Labor’s jobs report for August, which is certainly no more optimistic for Millennials in America.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Americans ages 25 to 34 actually increased during the month of August from 6.6. percent to 6.9 percent. In short, the number of Millennials searching for jobs and not finding them is actually increasing.
“Obama continues to tout how strong the economy is, but that’s not the reality for the millions of young Americans still struggling,” said Republican National Committee Deputy Press Secretary Raffi Williams in response to the latest numbers. “Millennials need elected leaders who put job creation first and we can start by electing new Senate leadership that passes the 43 jobs bills sitting on Harry Reid’s desk.”
In addition to disappointing numbers for Millennials, the August report also reveals that job growth lagged substantially last month, with U.S. employers adding the lowest number of jobs in eight months.
