GoKawiilCESifo study finds no rise in unemployment for recent college grads despite AI adoption
A new analysis from Munich's CESifo institute examined US Census Bureau data on bachelor's degree holders aged 22-25 not enrolled in further education, finding a summer 2026 unemployment rate of 7.3% — within the range seen since 2022. Researchers Robert Fairlie and Jane Wu tracked summer figures from 2022 through 2026, spanning the release and adoption of ChatGPT, and found the rate has fluctuated between 6.3% and 7.8% over that period without a clear worsening trend.