Employers plan to hire 14.7% more new graduates from the class of 2023 than they did from the class of 2022, according to a new report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

In addition, NACE’s Job Outlook 2023 report found that half of responding employers plan to increase hiring, while less than 6% expect to cut back.

“What we are seeing is that, although there has been a lot of discussion about recession, employers are still expecting to bring in more new college graduates this year than they did last year,” said Shawn VanDerziel, NACE executive director. “In fact, nearly half of the employers that took part in our survey rated the job market for class of 2023 college graduates as very good to excellent.”

Various factors are fueling the idea, including the low unemployment rate, VanDerziel said. “It was just 3.5% in September and has hovered around there most of the year.”

Those cutting back on hiring cited three factors behind their decision: inflation, overhiring last year and uncertainty about attrition.

According to NACE, although the current hiring projections are positive, they are off significantly from the projections employers made for the class of 2022 and more in line with those seen before the pandemic.

The survey also found that recruiting for interns will be even more concentrated, with respondents reporting they expect to try to secure about 70% of their interns in the fall for summer internships.

Data for the Job Outlook 2023 survey were collected from Aug. 3 to Sept. 16 from 246 respondents, 150 of whom were NACE employer members.