College grads face worst job market in 20 years

[Progressive4Life]

Add that to the five figures of debt so many people are graduating with...

College seniors graduating this Spring face a double whammy of high college loan debts and the slowest job market in two decades.

The labor market for young college graduates, ages 25 to 35, is slowly improving but remains much weaker than before the last recession in 2001. It has been 20 years since young college graduates have experienced employment rates as low as those of the past five years, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

At the same time, the College Board reports the average college graduate leaves school with $15,000 to $25,000 in student loan debt. Credit card debt and going to graduate school can add significantly to that debt load.

Graduates who earn at least a bachelor’s degree, and in some cases an advanced degree, would be expected to fare better than those without college degrees because demand for their skills should insulate them from labor market fluctuations, EPI economist Elise Gould says. But real hourly wages of young college graduates have picked up only slightly over the past year after declines for three years in a row. Their hourly wages in 2005 averaged $23.10, up from $23.03 in 2004 but still below the 2001 level of $23.77.

Continued...

[MadMaddie]

1. Whaaaaaaat......but the economy is booming new jobs are

being created everday says the * boy man!!!It's booming he says....:sarcasm:

[AX10]

2. It's the "booming" economy!

:eyes:

[noahmijo]

3. I'm a recent college grad attended a top school for my degree even

in Info Technology. At least according to US News and World Report the only schools beating mine for this major were MIT and Carnegie Mellon.


My first job out of college was working at Best Buy.

A year and some change later I finally have found a "real" job and it's for the govt no less.

[Warpy]

4. That's where something like 90% of the new full time jobs

that pay a living wage have come from: Uncle Sam.

The rest are low wage, dead end, part time, or a combination of any or all of those.

Like father, like son, eh?

[noahmijo]

5. Yep you said it and honestly after having spent considerable time in the

private sector I will NEVER work for the American corporation EVER not EVER I trust American corporations about as much as I'd trust a doctor whose last name is Mengele.

[nick303]

7. I graduated in 2005 with a degree in IT

from a respectable but not really top tier school in Philadelphia. I'd say most of my class made out pretty well.

[ramapo]

9. That's because your potential job was likely ....

filled by somebody here on a H1B visa.

My daughter's degree qualified her to answer phones. That was a step up from serving coffee and B&N. The competition for these 'entry' jobs is fierce. You need to "know" somebody in order to get anything decent.

[nick303]

10. Doesn't sound like you were responding to my post

but I'll clarify by saying I didn't know anyone at the company I ended up applying to. Actually a number of well-known companies called me. I'm not trying to sound arrogant but as long as you've done your homework there are opportunities. Most people my age are complaining less that they are unemployed but that their job didn't meeting their expectations, so many decided to look for another job within 6-9 months of graduating.

[Sammy Pepys]

6. Well, unless you ask the MSM....

An improved job market awaits this year's college grads
Employers reaching out to engineers, accountants with sweet offers

By WILL SHANLEY
DENVER POST

Corporate America is laying out the welcome mat for the nation's 1.4 million college seniors, creating perhaps the strongest job market for graduates since the dot-com days of the late 1990s.

Employment experts credit a relatively robust economy and job openings created as baby boomers begin to retire.

"I was lucky," said Roman Yavich, 22, who received three job offers after graduating this month with a finance degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder. "I came out of school in a good job market."

Two-thirds of U.S. companies plan to hire more graduates in 2006 than they did a year ago, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

That will translate into 14.5 percent more jobs for college graduates this year than in 2005.

cont'd at link
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/271817_graduates29.html

[nick303]

8. It's hard to imagine the AFL-CIO blog

painting a rosy employment picture