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New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

randalolson.com

71–80 of 320 posts

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#71

The story here isn't college grads as much as young people in general. We are eating our young. We stopped building new housing, which turns housing into a transfer of wealth from those who don't have it (the young) to those who have been holding it (the not young). We have eliminated entry level positions, saddled college graduates with massive amounts of debt by defunding universities, and created great security fo…

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Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#72
post #50

Now I want to see the males/females ratio in that graph, I bet most of the unemployed are males, which is something weird I noticed where everyone who’s complaining about the job market are men, meanwhile women are hired and sometimes working two jobs on top of that.

The difference is only 11% of men versus 10.5% of women age 16-24 (PDF): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/youth.pdf

How is that relevant? From TFA:

> By early 2026 recent grads sat at 5.6% unemployment

Which seems very far from your numbers.

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#73

The story here isn't college grads as much as young people in general. We are eating our young. We stopped building new housing, which turns housing into a transfer of wealth from those who don't have it (the young) to those who have been holding it (the not young). We have eliminated entry level positions, saddled college graduates with massive amounts of debt by defunding universities, and created great security fo…

[deleted]

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#74

The story here isn't college grads as much as young people in general. We are eating our young. We stopped building new housing, which turns housing into a transfer of wealth from those who don't have it (the young) to those who have been holding it (the not young). We have eliminated entry level positions, saddled college graduates with massive amounts of debt by defunding universities, and created great security fo…

It's not just our young—that just receives disproportionate attention. The entire country is being actively looted under the guise of "economic growth". Anyway, increasing supply isn't going to solve our many problems leading to widespread homelessness and financial insecurity, but the Ezra Klein dunces aren't ready for that conversation yet.

I would say aversion to allowing economic growth is the true cause of inequality.

It creates austerity which means the wealthy do just fine while those with less suffer and overpay and transfer what little they do have to the wealthy.

Degrowth is a fundamentally unequal program which causes massive inequality and suffering. Only with growth does power lessen for those with the most.

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#75
post #50

Now I want to see the males/females ratio in that graph, I bet most of the unemployed are males, which is something weird I noticed where everyone who’s complaining about the job market are men, meanwhile women are hired and sometimes working two jobs on top of that.

You're getting downvoted because people don't like what you say, but NPR had a piece confirming this just this April:

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/10/nx-s1-5773327/women-men-jobs-...

> Of the 369,000 jobs the Labor Department says were created since the start of Trump's second term, nearly all — 348,000 of them — went to women, with only 21,000 going to men. That's nearly 17 times as many jobs filled by women as by men.

In short, healthcare is the only field adding lots of jobs, and healthcare workers are something like 80% women. Men who are pursuing non-healthcare educational paths are much less likely to find a new job created for them; they'll have to compete for existing, filled jobs.

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#76
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've known a few college graduates who have come up in this market. From what I see, the common pattern is to try and get a position in your field for 3-10 months. Somewhere in that time range, they burn out. Then they apply for something field related for a few months. Then anything. Once they've exhausted all options they usually give up. We will likely have a similar concept in our country as China's "lying flat"…

>as China's "lying flat" movement No, you miss that "lying flat" is only possible when cost of food/living is low and housing is abundant.

I believe the closest US equivalent is to get on disability to subsidize those costs. (Especially effective in cheaper areas.)

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#77
post #3

Isn't getting a college degree actually making you more selective, too, leading graduates to pass on jobs they would otherwise have taken?

But note the article also points out "Of the new grads who do have jobs, about 41% are underemployed, working roles that never required a degree in the first place."

So while I'd assume that yes, some graduates are more selective (as they should be, as they usually need to pay off student loans), a huge number of them are taking jobs that don't require their degrees.

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#78

The story here isn't college grads as much as young people in general. We are eating our young. We stopped building new housing, which turns housing into a transfer of wealth from those who don't have it (the young) to those who have been holding it (the not young). We have eliminated entry level positions, saddled college graduates with massive amounts of debt by defunding universities, and created great security fo…

Everywhere I look in my area we are building new housing. But more people keep moving to the desirable locations with jobs etc. EDIT: I live in one of the 10 fastest growing metro areas of the US. In the last 4 years my county added over 60,000 homes but about 130,000 new people moved here. I drive around and see new development after new development. But more people move here because of the good jobs, schools, etc.…

"We" in GP was the previous generation, not a nefarious evil cadre. The prior generations followed jobs to highly desireable areas, affordable only because they had the expertise and education to get the high paying job in the first place. Every person that moves there lifts the ladder a little higher behind them just due to market factors.

I feel that only works so long. Without new emerging areas offering high wages and decent cost of living, the new grads look at the old areas like SF (no hate just e.g.) and see a financial bridge too far and a tight job market anyway.

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#79

The story here isn't college grads as much as young people in general. We are eating our young. We stopped building new housing, which turns housing into a transfer of wealth from those who don't have it (the young) to those who have been holding it (the not young). We have eliminated entry level positions, saddled college graduates with massive amounts of debt by defunding universities, and created great security fo…

It's not just our young—that just receives disproportionate attention. The entire country is being actively looted under the guise of "economic growth". Anyway, increasing supply isn't going to solve our many problems leading to widespread homelessness and financial insecurity, but the Ezra Klein dunces aren't ready for that conversation yet.

> increasing supply isn't going to solve our many problems leading to widespread homelessness and financial insecurity

Why not?

(I guess I'm a "dunce", but I'm one that's ready for that conversation)

Re: New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker

#80

The story here isn't college grads as much as young people in general. We are eating our young. We stopped building new housing, which turns housing into a transfer of wealth from those who don't have it (the young) to those who have been holding it (the not young). We have eliminated entry level positions, saddled college graduates with massive amounts of debt by defunding universities, and created great security fo…

Everywhere I look in my area we are building new housing. But more people keep moving to the desirable locations with jobs etc. EDIT: I live in one of the 10 fastest growing metro areas of the US. In the last 4 years my county added over 60,000 homes but about 130,000 new people moved here. I drive around and see new development after new development. But more people move here because of the good jobs, schools, etc.…

Yeah.. In Texas, there is loads of housing, and loads of affordable housing.

In Canada - not so much

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