Notably, there is a trick to the statistics that the media throws around concerning high-school dropouts, the media is generally quoting an “on time” graduation rate, many dropouts go on to finish high-school and may also go on to vocational school and/or college.
Second, it is true, there are more unemployed college graduates. This piqued my curiosity a bit further so I downloaded the adjusted BLS-CPS data series as far back as it goes (1992) to evaluate any discernable patterns over time. I chose the latest available month for data, and plotted the following chart using November as my sample for each year going back to 1992.
Contrary to popular belief, the HS Dropout rate among those in the Civilian Population is declining, there is an uptick in the percentage of those with Some College (includes Associate degrees) and a higher percentage are finishing their undergraduate degrees.
