It's tough out there for new college grads

This episode of Marketplace All-in-One explores the increasingly difficult job market facing recent college graduates, highlighting rising unemployment and underemployment rates, with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reporting a 5.7% unemployment rate for new grads and a staggering 42.5% underemployment rate—its highest since 2020. Host Kimberly Adams speaks with Noam Scheiber, labor reporter at The New York Times and author of *Mutiny, The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class*, who argues that decades of declining job prospects for college grads have led to a growing sense of anger, alienation, and worker solidarity. Scheiber traces this shift from the late 1990s through the Great Recession, pandemic, and now the rise of AI, showing how college grads—once seen as future managers or owners—are now increasingly identifying as workers, forming unions across industries from Starbucks to tech and healthcare. The episode underscores how student debt, job insecurity, and the erosion of the college-to-career promise have fueled a 'revolt' among young professionals, with many embracing unionization, political activism, and a new proletarian consciousness. Despite the bleak outlook, Scheiber offers cautious hope, emphasizing the agency and critical thinking skills college instills, which remain valuable even in an AI-driven economy.