For New Grads Looking for Work, the Struggle Is Real – But Not for All

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Key points: The share of new graduates with Indeed profiles increased dramatically between 2023 and 2025 – rising from 11.5% to 19.1% among bachelor’s degree recipients and from 8.9% to 14.4% among master’s degree recipients. The acceleration coincides with a significantly harder job market for new graduates. The unemployment rate for recent grads hit 5.7% in Q4 2025, a three-year high, while the share of unemployed Americans who are new workforce entrants reached a 37-year peak. The surge is not uniform across fields of study. Fields where graduates are typically placed through more-established routes, including clinical rotations, student teaching, and/or apprenticeships, show stable Indeed engagement regardless of broader market conditions.