The marked rise in unemployment among recent college graduates has been one of the most-talked-about economic trends of the past year. Joblessness among highly educated youngsters everywhere from the US to the UK and beyond has climbed above the overall unemployment rate for the first time on record, raising questions about everything from the value of a college education to the role played by AI.
But the headline trend masks important nuances beneath the surface, which, once unpicked, shed light on the extent to which these sweeping narratives are true.
Digging into detailed monthly US employment data, the first thing that jumps out is that the rise in graduate joblessness is concentrated almost entirely among young American men.