College Grads Group Saw Their Unemployment Rate Fall - For The Wrong Reasons

We just learned the unemployment rate climbed for the first time in six months, to 6.2%.

This was ostensibly for the "right reasons": More people are joining the labor force, on the assumption that eventually they'll be able to find work.

But the unemployment rate fell for one group, for bad reasons: People with bachelor's degrees.

For this cohort, the unemployment rate fell to 3.1% from 3.3%. The labor force participation rate fell back to 74.7%, the lowest level since March; it was 75.2% in June.

The employment to population ratio for Americans with bachelor's degrees fell to 72.4%, below its 72.6% level last July. And the overall civilian labor force for those with bachelor's fell by 28,000.

For everyone else - those who have or have not completed high school, along with folks with some college - either their total civilian labor force climbed, or their participation rate climbed.

Here's the table:

The preponderance of evidence continues to suggest that completing your bachelor's degree is worth the investment over time.

But for now, at least, it doesn't seem to be an absolute guarantee of success in the jobs market.