For the first time, four-year college graduates make up a larger share of the workforce than workers with a high school diploma or less, according to research released today by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

The report found that in 2016, workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher comprise 36% of the workforce while those with a high school diploma or less represent 34%.

Workers with more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree, who are typically employed in middle-skill occupations, comprise the remaining 30% of the workforce.

Out of the 11.6 million jobs created in the post-recession economy, 11.5 million went to workers with at least some college education, according the report, “America’s Divided Recovery: College Haves and Have-Nots.” Of these jobs, 8.4 million went to workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

“The modern economy continues to leave Americans without a college education behind,” said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown Center and lead author of the report. “For decades, we’ve witnessed this growing split that parallels the divide in the current electorate.”

The research found the largest occupational group in the American economy, routine office and administrative support jobs, lost 1.4 million jobs during the recession and recovery, primarily because of automation and the rise in digital information storage. These occupations were a primary source of jobs for workers with a high school diploma or less, in many cases, so the decline of these jobs has hit less-educated workers particularly hard, according to the report.

Other key report findings include:

• In the recovery, graduate degree holders gained 3.8 million jobs, bachelor’s degree holders gained 4.6 million jobs, and Associate’s degree holders (and those with some college education) gained more than 3 million jobs, compared to workers with a high school diploma or less, who added only 80,000 jobs.
• About 5.8 million high-skill jobs in the recovery are going to workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher, whereas low-skill jobs are the only area of growth for workers with a high school diploma or less.
• Workers with at least some postsecondary education now make up 65% of the total employment. Bachelor’s degree holders now earn 57% of all wages.
• Among industries, consulting and business services added the largest number of jobs in the recovery (2.5 million), while manufacturing added the second most (1.7 million). Manufacturing, however, still has 1 million fewer jobs than it did before the recession began. Construction added 834,000 jobs during recovery, but is still 1.6 million jobs short of its pre-recession employment — the largest gap among all industries.
• Management added the largest number of jobs of any occupation since the recession began (1.6 million), while healthcare professional and technical occupations added the second most jobs (1.5 million).

Officially, the Great Recession covered the 18-month period from December 2007 to June 2009. However, since the economy did not begin adding jobs until January 2010, this study delineates The Great Recession as the period from December 2007 to January 2010 and the recovery as the period from January 2010 to January 2016.