Congratulations to the Class of 2026! As graduation season kicks off, we wanted to take a closer look at what new grads are walking into, and the numbers paint a mixed picture.
The unemployment rate for recent college graduates reached 5.6% in March, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — one of the highest levels in a decade outside of the pandemic-era spike. Historically, recent grads have tended to fare better than the broader labor market, but that's not the case right now with the national unemployment rate standing at 4.3%. For even more context, unemployment among new graduates typically hovered between 3% and 5% throughout much of the 1990s and 2000s.
Still, it's not all bad news. Some indicators are improving year over year, and grads are pivoting their entry-level dream jobs in the age of AI. Here are the numbers that tell this story.
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Class of 2026 vs. the job market
5.6%
Employers project hiring for the class of 2026 to be up 5.6% compared to last year, according to the spring update from the National Association of Colleges + Employers (NACE). The top industries increasing hiring include information, engineering services, wholesale trade, construction and miscellaneous professional services.
⏱️ 77.2% ⏱️
More than three in four recent grads (77.2%) landed a role within three months of graduating, up from 63.3% just a year ago, according to ZipRecruiter's Annual Grad Report.
$80,004
Current undergrads are overestimating their starting salaries by a pretty big margin. They expect to earn $80,004 on average one year after graduation; actual starting salaries are $56,153, real estate site Clever found.
⚡ 35% ⚡
Per NACE, 35% of entry-level jobs require AI skills. The share of full-time job postings mentioning AI has nearly doubled year over year to 4.2%, per Handshake's Class of 2026 outlook. To no surprise, tech jobs have the highest percentage of active jobs mentioning AI terms.
4 in 10
Four in 10 students say they've considered changing their field of study because of AI, and 10% of those have already made the switch, according to the CNBC and SurveyMonkey Quarterly AI & Jobs survey.
35% vs. 36%
Among workers who use AI daily or weekly, the outlook is almost perfectly split: 35% say AI makes them more pessimistic about the job market, but 36% say it makes them more optimistic, per CNBC.
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