Overview

• Jerome Powell highlighted a very low job‑finding rate for young people and described a “low firing, low hiring” environment after the Fed’s latest rate cut.
• Revelio Labs reports entry‑level job listings are down 35% since 2023, underscoring the contraction in opportunities for new graduates.
• Cengage says only 30% of this year’s grads have full‑time roles related to their degree and pegs recent‑grad unemployment at 5.8%, as 75% of employers plan to hire the same or fewer entry‑level workers.
• Employers now require degrees for 71% of entry‑level roles even though fewer than half view a degree as a strong readiness signal, highlighting an education‑employment disconnect.
• UBS and Goldman Sachs attribute the youth unemployment spike to low turnover rather than automation, while a Stanford study finds a 13% relative employment decline for early‑career workers in the most AI‑exposed jobs.