The unemployment rate among white-collar workers in the United States has reached a historical high, with college graduates accounting for 25% of the total unemployed population.

According to a report by Golden Finance, data shows that people in the U.S. with a four-year college degree now make up a record 25% of the total unemployed, highlighting a sharp slowdown in white-collar hiring this year. The monthly data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was delayed due to the government shutdown, shows that the unemployment rate for individuals with a bachelor's degree rose to 2.8% in September, an increase of half a percentage point compared to a year ago. In contrast, the unemployment rate for other education levels has barely increased or remained unchanged during the same period. In September, there were over 1.9 million unemployed Americans aged 25 and older with at least a bachelor's degree, accounting for a quarter of the total unemployed. Before 2025, data dating back to 1992 shows that this proportion has never reached such a high level. This indicates that younger, newly graduated college students are also struggling to find jobs. Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan, pointed out that the rise in unemployment among the college-educated population “should further exacerbate concerns about unemployment related to artificial intelligence.”