In September, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate among people with at least a bachelor’s degree was 2.9%, significantly lower than the overall 5.9% unemployment rate. The difference is consistent with previous reports that have found unemployment rates among people with a college degree to be lower than the overall rates.
However, a recent blog post in The Chronicle of Higher Education notes that many of these graduates are underemployed. The post includes survey data from PayScale, a compensation research company, which found that nine college majors had unemployment rates of 50% or higher. In the survey, underemployment included people who are underpaid, not using their education or training, or working part-time when they want to be working full-time.
The Chronicle also notes that underemployment is more prevalent among recent graduates than among the overall population of college graduates. The post cites data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which found that the underemployment rate in June 2014 among recent graduates (those ages 22-27) was 46%, compared to an overall college graduate underemployment rate of 34.6%. Further, the underemployment rate for recent graduates has increased in recent years; it was 41.5% in March 2008. By contrast, the overall rate for graduates has been relatively steady in that period.
