Despite degrees being slammed as ‘useless’ by Gen Z, data shows graduates have had the lowest unemployment rate of anyone for the last 20 years

But really, graduates are nonetheless the least more likely to be unemployed proper now.

Fresh data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that amongst employees aged 25 and over, individuals with a bachelor’s diploma have the lowest unemployment rate of any training group.

In reality, regardless of a 3rd of graduates slamming their degrees as a waste of cash and not financially worth itthe numbers present a reasonably blunt actuality: The extra educated you might be, the extra doubtless you might be to be in work.

Those with no highschool diploma face the highest danger of being out of work, with jobless charges greater than twice these of faculty graduates, whereas everybody else falls someplace in between.

And this is not a blip. Back in 2019, earlier than the pandemic (and ChatGPT) reshaped the job market for good, faculty grads additionally sat at the backside of the unemployment chart—and the similar was true even 20 years in the past.

In 2006, when the data begins, unemployment for individuals with no highschool diploma sat at 6.9%, in contrast with 2.2% for faculty graduates, and in early 2026, it is nonetheless 6.4% versus roughly 2.8%.

In different phrases, even as the financial system and office have reworked, one factor has remained stubbornly constant: having a level nonetheless places you at the most secure finish of the unemployment chart.

Degrees are shedding their shine—however not their edge

For all the backlash, a level remains to be the most secure solution to get your foot in the door in your 20s. It will not assure a six-figure wage or a quick monitor to the C-suite, however the data shows it nonetheless makes it simpler to land in your toes—and keep there.

What has modified is how that benefit feels. On paper, graduates are nonetheless higher protected in opposition to unemployment; In apply, many of them really feel caught in underpaid roles, squeezed by lease and pupil loans, and watching individuals without degrees construct robust careers by trades, startups, or aspect hustles.

In a viral TikTookay video, to Gen Zer slammed child boomers for not understanding the disaster their technology faces: extremely educated but unable to afford the similar milestones of maturity that earlier cohorts took for granted.

“We need to stop expecting the same damn people who bought a four-bedroom home and a brand-new Cadillac convertible off of a $30,000-a-year salary to understand what it’s like to be working 40-plus hours a week with a master’s degree and still not being able to afford a 400-square-foot studio apartment in bumf-ck Iowa,” Robbie Scott slammed.

“We’re staying in school. We’re going to college. We’ve been working since we were 15, 16 years old…doing everything that y’all told us to do so that we can what? Still be living in our parents’ homes in our late twenties?”

To high it off, they’re additionally watching tech leaders warn that AI might kill all corporate jobs and create a “huge boom” in blue-collar jobs—due to the sudden want for data facilities to energy the new expertise.

But for now, graduates nonetheless get employed extra and earn extra

Although the promise of degrees being a golden ticket to a nook workplace and a home in the suburbs has undeniably pale, the numbers nonetheless make a cussed case for them.

Bachelor’s diploma holders earn (*20*) 66% more per week than highschool graduates. And in order for you the actually huge paychecks? Research from Laddersthe profession website for six-figure jobs, discovered that diploma necessities have the largest influence on top-tier salaries—and the high jobs paying $200,000 or extra overwhelmingly require superior degrees.

Then there’s what’s taking place behind closed doorways. Companies like Google, Microsoftand Apple have scrapped diploma necessities to be extra inclusive—however Goodwill CEO Steve Preston says the actuality on the floor appears to be like very completely different. “The top says we need to do this,” he previously told Fortune“but when it gets to the hiring professionals, it doesn’t always trickle down.”

In different phrases, the job advert may not ask for a level. The hiring supervisor in all probability nonetheless needs one. And the data shows that it hasn’t modified in at the least 20 years of data.