Even college degrees don’t guarantee a job in this economy. According to unpublished data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics—college grads between the ages of 20 and 24 had a 7.7 percent unemployment rate in January of this year—that’s a touch higher than the national average, and significantly higher than the 4.1 percent unemployment rate of older college graduates. 

As part of our series Hard Working, WBEZ’s Adriene Hill recently sat down with three 20-somethings to find out how the recession is altering their plans and dreams.

I recently asked a trio young people—Morgan Oliver, Jeanne Power and Graham Troyer-Joy, all with college degrees—to get together at a café in Chicago to talk with me and each other about the economy.