Employment rates for college graduates have returned to near their prepandemic level after two challenging years, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ recently released First-Destination Survey for the Class of 2022.

“Driving the upswing for the class of 2022 was an exceptionally strong labor market, characterized by record low levels of unemployment,” NACE president and CEO Shawn VanDerziel said in a press release.

The overall employment rate — including the percentage of graduates employed full-time and part-time for class of 2022 bachelor’s graduates — stands at 64.0%, with a full-time employment rate of 59.1%.

These figures closely align with the prepandemic rates observed for the class of 2019, which stood at 64.6% overall and 59.7% for full-time employment.

Employment rates for the class of 2020 were 58.6% overall and 53.6% for full-time employment. The class of 2021 saw employment rates of 60.2% overall and 55.3% for full time.

Additionally, the average starting salary for the class of 2022 increased to $61,869, up from $58,862 for the class of 2021.

The survey also found that nearly one in four bachelor’s degree graduates who attained full-time employment received an average bonus of $9,966 on top of their base salary.

“It is likely that employers used bonuses as a means to counter inflation, which was about 6.5% at the time,” VanDerziel said.

The survey gathered information six months after the end of the academic year and includes responses from 344 schools/career centers detailing results for their 2022 graduates in four-year degree programs. In total, the graduating classes of these reporting institutions represent nearly 829,000 graduates — more than 594,000 at the bachelor’s degree level, more than 187,000 at the master’s level, approximately 31,000 earning a doctoral degree and more than 16,000 at the associate level.