A graduate wearing blue is sitting in one of many chairs outside, facing a building
Recent anthropology grads had an unemployment rate of almost 8% in 2024.Sean De Burca/Getty Images
Unemployment is high for grads who majored in anthropology, computer engineering, and fine arts.
That’s based on a New York Fed analysis of recent college graduates using 2024 data.
One economist suggested job seekers work on networking and expanding their search.
After wearing the cap and gown, snapping photos with family, and saying goodbye to college friends, new graduates will pivot to their first postgrad job.
Others will hope their degrees and newly acquired skills will soon lead to a job offer like those of their peers.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York analyzed 73 college majors, including miscellaneous groupings, using Census Bureau data from 2024 to examine unemployment for recent grads, defined as 22- to 27-year-olds with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Several art-related majors had high unemployment rates, but anthropology ranked highest at nearly 8%. Unemployment for early childhood education majors was also among the highest, but a few educational fields had the lowest unemployment rates.
The chart below shows the college majors with rates above 6.0%.
Daniel Zhao, the chief economist at Glassdoor, told Business Insider that the majors with the highest rates are interesting because they don’t fit into a single group.
«You have some majors that have very restrictive job markets, like fine arts or performing arts, but then you also have other majors that have been very attractive and that offer high-paying jobs, like computer engineering or computer science,» Zhao said.
Zhao pointed to underemployment rates, or the share of grads getting a job that doesn’t usually need a degree. Computer engineering and computer science had underemployment rates below 20%, while anthropology, fine arts, and performing arts had rates above 50%.
«Say a computer science grad is having a hard time finding a job in tech in the current market, but they know that if they can land one, it’ll be worth their while because the pay in tech is so much higher than other industries,» Zhao said. «So they’re willing to sit it out and wait until a good role comes along.»
Zhao said grads with anthropology or fine arts degrees «don’t necessarily have the financial cushion to not look for a job right now» because these roles typically don’t pay as much as a tech role.