FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2014
Contacts:
Sarah Lovenheim, sarah.lovenheim@
Colin Seeberger, colin.seeberger@
Unemployment Rate Among College Graduates is Lower than those Lacking Higher Education Degree
[WASHINGTON]— As the national unemployment rate stayed stagnant, the unemployment rate for 18-to 29-year-olds rose from 9.1 percent to 10.1 percent in May (not seasonably adjusted).
Over the past five years, the unemployment rate among college graduates age 25 and older has stayed significantly lower than the unemployment rate among high school graduates. In May, the unemployment rate among college graduates in this category was 3.2 percent, for example, while the unemployment rate among high school graduates was 6.5 percent.
“Fewer young adults are jobless today than during the Great Recession, but we still have a ways to go to get our generation back on their feet,” said Rory O’Sullivan, Deputy Director at Young Invincibles. “There are two key ways to increase our long term job prospects: keep college affordable, and expand job-training programs. Fortunately, there are three bills in Congress that could achieve just that; the time for Congress to pass them is now.”
The three bills that could help reverse trends:
- Senator Mary Landrieu’s CHANCE Act that boosts funding for the Pell Grant – financial aid that’s key to helping low-income young adults afford college.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act that provides immediate relief to struggling borrowers by allowing them to refinance their loans.
- A bipartisan measure by Senators Cory Booker and Tim Scott that would incentivize employers to create apprenticeship programs — a reliable way to give young adults the job-training they need in today’s tough economy.
Here’s more information on how different populations of young people fared in May 2014:
• The unemployment rate for black young adults ages 16 to 24 in May is 23.8 percent compared to 21.4 percent last month (not seasonally adjusted).
• The unemployment rate for young Latinos ages 16 to 24 in May is 12.3 percent – it was 11.6 percent last month (not seasonally adjusted).
• The unemployment rate for young men ages 16 to 24 in May is 14.2 percent compared to 14.3 percent last month (seasonally adjusted).
• The unemployment rate for young women ages 16 to 24 in May is 12.2 percent compared to 11.2 percent last month (seasonally adjusted).