WASHINGTON » The consulting and accounting firm EY is aggressively recruiting on college campuses this spring. The company formerly known as Ernst & Young plans to hire 9,000 graduates from U.S. universities this year, up from 7,500 in 2014. But recruiting isn’t as easy as it used to be.

"I’m seeing a lot more competition" from rival employers, says Dan Black, EY’s Americas recruiting leader.

That’s good news for college seniors and graduate students preparing to accept diplomas this spring, and a sign that new graduates will fare better than they did in 2014. The Labor Department reported Thursday that the unemployment rate for Americans in their 20s who received a four-year or advanced degree last year rose to 12.4 percent from 10.9 percent in 2013.

"This is a real breakout year," said Philip Gardner, director of Michigan State University’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute.

In a survey of employers last fall, the employment center found that hiring of graduates with four-year degrees will rise 16 percent this year.

"It’s led by the ones you would expect: engineering and business," Gardner said. "But there seems to be a lot of room for everybody. … Even arts and humanities are making a comeback."

Employers have more openings to fill because baby boomers are retiring and more workers are feeling confident enough about the economy to switch jobs. Overall, the United States generated 3.1 million jobs last year, the most since 1999. The overall unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in March from 6.7 percent at the end of 2013.

Tyler Etten, 22, had a $54,000-a-year job in finance waiting for him when he graduated from Iowa State University in May. Three months later he bounced to an even better job with the investment firm Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis. His 3.5 grade-point average helped. But Etten says he set himself apart by getting internships, participating in campus clubs and spending his spare time learning financial modeling and advanced Excel skills.