OTTAWA – A new report says a growing proportion of recent university graduates are overqualified for their jobs.

The analysis by the federal parliamentary budget office also found a decline in the rate of young graduates with jobs that match their education level.

The research reveals that Canada’s overqualification rate among university grads aged 25 to 34 climbed to 40 per cent last year, up from about 32 per cent a quarter-century ago.

Over the same period, the study says, the proportion of grads employed in positions that matched their credentials decreased to 55 per cent from 62 per cent.

By contrast, college graduates have fared better in recent years — their overqualification rate dropped to 34 per cent last year from 37 per cent in 2006.

It says the proportion of recent college grads who held positions that matched their education level reached 50 per cent in 2014, up from 45 per cent in 1998.