A Vox reader asks: Maybe it’s because I am a new grad, graduating with my bachelor’s in May yippee! But it seems everyone is super pessimistic about the job market these days. Has it been harder to get a job for people in recent years, or am I just finally shedding my childhood naïveté and being forced to wake up to the way the job market has always been?

Congratulations on your graduation! That’s a genuine achievement worth celebrating, even amid job market concerns.

The short answer to your question is that, unfortunately, the economic data does confirm what you’re sensing: The job market really is more challenging for new graduates right now, and it’s not just your childhood optimism fading away.

You and your peers have faced uniquely tough circumstances. You started college during a

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