(NewsNation) — Recent U.S. college graduates are increasingly struggling to find employment despite their qualifications, research has shown.

Oxford Economics determined that graduates — those age 22 to 27 with a bachelor’s degree or higher — have contributed 12% to the 85% rise in the national unemployment rate since mid-2023.

Those graduates make up only 5% of the total workforce, meaning they’re contributing more than double their share to unemployment statistics.

Recent graduates also have a nearly 6% unemployment rate, beating out the national unemployment rate of 4.2%.

That’s the highest since 2021 and more than double the rate for all college graduates, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Underemployment is also on the rise: 41% of recent graduates work in jobs that typically don’t require a college degree, up from 39% in January.

Oxford researchers pointed to temporary causes for the spike in unemployment — including tariffs and inflation — and more longstanding issues, such as the saturation of tech fields like computer science and artificial intelligence overhauls.

“Higher unemployment among recent college graduates is primarily a function of a structural
shift in hiring in the tech sector amid strong labor supply growth,” researchers wrote. “While some of it is related to a normalization after the post-pandemic surge, there are signs that entry-level positions are being displaced by artificial intelligence at higher rates.”

A recent Indeed survey found 51% of Gen Zers think getting their college degree was a “waste of money.”

NewsNation’s Andrew Dorn contributed to this report.