While completing a master's degree in data analysis, Palwasha Zahid moved from Dallas to a town near Silicon Valley . The location made it easy to visit the campuses of tech stalwarts such as Google, Apple, and Nvidia .
Zahid, 25, completed her studies in December, but so far she hasn't found a job in the industry that surrounds her.
"It stings a little bit," she said. "I never imagined it would be this difficult just to get a foot in the door."
Young people graduating from college this spring and summer are facing one of the toughest job markets in more than a decade. The unemployment rate for degree holders ages 22 to 27 has reached its highest level in a dozen years, excluding the coronavirus pandemic. Joblessness among that group is now higher than the overall unemployment rate, and the gap is larger than it has been in more than three decades.
The rise in unemployment has worried many economists as well as officials at the Federal Reserve because it could be an early sign of trouble for the economy. It suggests businesses are holding off on hiring new workers because of rampant uncertainty stemming from the Trump administration's tariff increases, which could slow growth.