Some good job news for recent college graduates

See These Companies Say AI Is Reviving Entry-Level Jobs, Not Killing Them What companies expect their newest and youngest workers can do for them is evolving as fast as the technology itself, a new report shows by Lindsay Ellis of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"nearly three times as many executives at companies using or exploring AI said they were increasing junior-level hiring in 2026 than cutting back. Those using AI most extensively were the most bullish"

"what companies expect their youngest workers can do for them is evolving as fast as AI itself. More than 40% said AI was bringing more complexity and analytical responsibility to those jobs"

"Some employers are bucking that caution as they integrate AI."

"MetLife increased intern and new-grad hiring by nearly 30% last year and expects entry-level head count in 2026 to grow again."

Then see New College Grads Confront a Tight Job Market but Still Have an Edge: Employment prospects are even worse for anyone with just a high-school diploma or an associate degree by Justin Lahart of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"the unemployment rate for people with bachelor’s degrees, and between the ages of 22 and 27, was a seasonally adjusted 5.6%. That was a big step up from the 3.6% registered in December 2019"  

"The unemployment rate for all workers in that age group (22-27)—college graduates, those with associate degrees, those with just high-school degrees, and so on—was higher at 7.2%."

"right before the pandemic . . . it was 6.8%"

"the unemployment rate for people with bachelor’s degrees, and between the ages of 22 and 27, was a seasonally adjusted 5.6%. That was a big step up from the 3.6% registered in December 2019"

"Young people with college degrees are more likely to be employed"

"in the first quarter the labor-force participation rate—the share of the population either working or looking for work—averaged 75.9% for people whose educations span high school through associate degrees. That was down from 77.1% in the first quarter of 2019."

"the participation rate for young people with bachelor’s degrees was 86.7%, up from 85.7%."

"For college graduates ages 22 to 27, the employment-to-population ratio averaged 82.4% in the first quarter"

It was "82.5% in the first quarter of 2019"

"for the group with high school through associate degrees, the employment-to-population ratio was 70.5%, down from 71.8%."

"the wage boost that workers with a bachelor’s degree receive relative to less-educated workers, while still substantial, has slipped, falling to about 55% last year versus about 63% in 2015. That could be because the number of workers with college degrees keeps rising. As of March, about 42% of U.S. employees had a bachelor’s degree or higher, versus about 36% a decade earlier."

"in the early 1900s only a small fraction of workers had high-school degrees, and having one earned workers a substantial wage premium. But that premium was eaten away as having a high-school degree went from rare, to common, to almost universal."