The Great Recession and its aftermath have had long-lasting effects on the employment prospects of young people entering the workforce after graduating from high school or college. Despite officially ending in June 2009, the recession has left millions of people unemployed for extended spells, with recent workforce entrants such as young graduates particularly vulnerable to unemployment. The slow pace of the recovery has meant that, since 2007, students have graduated into an acutely weak labor market and have had to compete with more-experienced workers for a limited number of job opportunities. But after a long and sluggish recovery, young graduates' economic prospects have finally begun to look up. Sustained improvements in economic conditions in recent years have brightened young graduates' job prospects for employment and wage growth, particularly for those graduating from college. Young workers are taking notice of the stronger labor market: Among 18- to 30-year-olds surveyed in 2015, 61 percent were optimistic about their employment opportunities--up from 45 percent in 2013. This paper focuses on recent high school graduates (age 17-20) and college graduates (age 21-24) who are not enrolled in further schooling. Their employment, enrollment, and wage trends were analyzed in order to glean the class of 2017's economic prospects as they begin their careers. Key findings include: (1) The labor market for young graduates remains weaker today than it was in 2000 or 2007; (2) High school graduates matter; (3) Unemployment among young graduates is close to where it was in 2007 but still far higher than in 2000; (4) Underemployment rates among young graduates have improved but remain higher than before the recession began; (5) The share of young graduates who are "idled" by the economy--neither enrolled in further schooling nor employed--remains elevated in the wake of the Great Recession; (6) The overall unemployment rates and idling rates of young graduates mask substantial racial and ethnic disparities in these measures; (7) Wages have stagnated--or fallen--for most young graduates since 2000; (8) The wage gap between male and female young high school graduates has narrowed since 2000, while the wage gap between male and female young college graduates has widened; and (9) Young graduates are burdened by substantial student loan balances. Young high school graduates were hit especially hard by the Great Recession. While there is still a long road to a healthy economy, unemployment rates have dropped significantly since the aftermath of the recession. Although the economy is slowly improving, many graduates of the Class of 2017 will face a difficult job market.