College and high school seniors graduating this year will be entering a tougher labor market than last year’s graduates. Businesses appear to be more cautious about hiring this summer with uncertainty remaining elevated due to tariffs, federal budget negotiations, and the timing of interest rate cuts.
The unemployment rate for individuals 18-19 years old rose to 13.4% in May 2025 from 12.4% a year earlier. Similarly, the unemployment rate for individuals 20-24 years old rose to 8.2% from 7.9% over the same period. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average hourly earnings for private sector employees rose 3.9% in May 2025 from the previous year. In the pre-pandemic month of February 2020, it increased 3.0% from the previous year.
In the Richmond area, the number of job postings has been 8% lower in the week starting June 8 when compared with last year, according to Chmura Economics & Analytics’ JobsEQ technology platform compared with a 7% decline in the nation, implying fewer jobs for this year’s graduates.
Even with the decline, 31,300 jobs are currently advertised by firms in the Richmond area. About a quarter of the ads require an associate’s degree or higher. The strongest demand is for workers with skills in the broad areas of information technology and healthcare.
The top four occupations Richmond businesses are currently seeking are medical and health services managers with an average entry-level salary of $89,300 based on 2024 quarter 4 data (the latest quarter for which data are available), postsecondary health specialties teacher at $67,200, software developers at $92,100, and architectural and engineering managers at $116,200.
Firms with the most openings requiring at least an associate’s degree for these top four occupations in the Richmond area are Virginia Community Colleges with 414 active job posts as of June 13, 2025, followed by Virginia Commonwealth University (255), Capital One (236), and VCU Health System (180).
At the other end of the spectrum, there are many occupations where demand is low. In the Richmond region, for example, there are fewer than 30 active job posts for landscape architects, loan officers, and facilities managers.
High school graduates this year should also find it harder to land a job this summer.
About 6,400 active job posts in the Richmond area as of June 13, 2025 required a high school diploma or equivalent, which was about the same as last year. At the top of the list are retail salespersons at a wage of $15.00 per hour based on ads that post wages, followed by first-line supervisors of retail workers at $17.19 an hour, fist-line supervisors of food preparation and service workers at $17.69 an hour, and maintenance and repair positions at $24.56 an hour.
