Jobs that new college grads are and are not landing
The Indicator from Planet Money
NPR
4.7 • 9.5K Ratings
🗓️ 3 April 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
Economists have described the state of the jobs market as “low hire, low fire.” That means employers are not cutting many jobs, but they're also not adding much either, a dismal prospect for many new college grads. On this edition of Jobs Friday, we go to Howard University in Washington, D.C. to see how graduating seniors are faring.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | NPR. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Adrienne Ma. And I'm Darym Woods. And it's Jobs Friday. |
| 0:17.5 | It's the day of the month where we look at the latest government jobs report and we spotlight trends in the labor market. |
| 0:23.3 | And today's jobs report shows a rebound. 178,000 jobs were added in March, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3%. |
| 0:32.5 | That's raising hopes that the sluggish labor market we've been seeing might be picking up. |
| 0:38.0 | For months, economists have used one phrase to describe the state of the jobs market, |
| 0:42.6 | low hire, low fire. That means employers overall are not cutting many jobs, but they're also |
| 0:49.2 | not adding much either. Yeah, and this stagnation, the lack of workers flowing in and out of different jobs, |
| 0:56.2 | that can be particularly tough for people at the very start of their careers. You know, the ones |
| 1:00.9 | looking for entry-level jobs. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimated the |
| 1:06.0 | unemployment rate for recent college grads is 5.6%. That's people with a bachelor's degree or higher. But that |
| 1:13.4 | stat only tells part of the story. So today on the show, we dig deeper to understand what low-hire, |
| 1:21.7 | low-fire means for those trying to get their first jobs and if it applies to all of them. |
| 1:36.0 | With graduation season a few weeks away, we wanted to get a sense of how college students are feeling about the job market. So we paid a visit to the campus of Howard University in D.C. |
| 1:42.2 | Tell me about your job search process. How's that been going? |
| 1:45.0 | Yes. Yes, actually, I was having a little bit of trouble, honestly. This is Monica Maya. |
| 1:51.0 | She's a senior majoring in chemical engineering. Do you know roughly about how many jobs you've |
| 1:56.0 | applied for? Well, the past semester, the past six months, I would say probably 50 jobs. |
| 2:01.4 | And have I heard back? |
| 2:04.3 | You know, some denials. |
| 2:06.9 | But, yeah, I haven't actually secured the position that I want yet, so I'm still looking. |
| 2:11.0 | And of course, Monica isn't unique in this. |
| 2:13.7 | Some people apply to 100, 200 jobs before they land one. While others like Soniu Lacoma are just trying to lock down an internship. |
... |
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