U.S. Recent College Graduates · Underemployment Rate

## What this measures

The share of working recent college graduates (aged 22 to 27 with a bachelor's degree or higher, not in school) whose job typically does not require a degree. A job counts as a college job when at least half of the people doing it say a bachelor's degree is needed (O*NET). Monthly from January 1990, seasonally adjusted and smoothed by the New York Fed with a three-month moving average.

## Why it matters

Unemployment shows graduates who can't find work; underemployment shows those who found work that doesn't use the degree. A rising share means the entry-level market for graduate jobs is thinner than the unemployment rate alone suggests.

## How to read it

Read it beside all college graduates' underemployment (labor.nyfed.college_grads.underemployment_rate). Recent graduates always sit higher, because many start below their level and move up; the question is whether the gap is widening.

## What it does not say

It classifies occupations, not people: a graduate in a "non-college" job may be well paid and choose it. The classification of each job is fixed from survey answers and does not track jobs changing over time. October 2025 is estimated by the NY Fed because the survey was not collected that month. The NY Fed revises the history when it updates.

## Source

Federal Reserve Bank of New York, The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates (newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market), from the Current Population Survey (IPUMS) and U.S. Department of Labor O*NET. © Federal Reserve Bank of New York; content subject to the Terms of Use at newyorkfed.org. Updated quarterly; Palanor checks monthly.