New York Fed study links remote work to rising youth unemployment among college graduates

Summary

A New York Federal Reserve study finds a causal link between the rise of remote work and increasing youth unemployment among recent college graduates. The unemployment rate for young graduates rose from 3.6% in March 2019 to 5.6% in March 2026, with remote work accounting for an estimated 64% of that increase. Employers are reportedly hesitant to hire fresh graduates onto distributed teams due to the difficulty of onboarding and training them remotely.