College graduates face rising unemployment; EmploymentCrossing finds 72,000 jobs.

December 07, 2010   |    PDF version

Pasadena, CA — The recession is starting to hurt college graduates, who till recently had been largely secure from job losses.

The unemployment rate for college graduates who have at least a bachelor's degree now stands at 5.1% in November, which is the highest since 1970. This converts into 2.4 million Americans with a bachelor's degree and higher who are without jobs. The jobless rate for them was 4.4% in September.

But the college graduates are still better off than those without high school diplomas (15.7%) and those with just high school diplomas (10%). The reason that even now college graduates are relatively insulated is that most of the job losses in the recession were in the construction and manufacturing industries. These are industries were most of the workforce is composed of high school graduates and those who didn't finish high school.

Now even service sector companies are letting go people or are reluctant to take on more workers. This has affected new college graduates the most. Small and medium sized businesses are putting off hiring citing uncertainties about government policies regarding taxes and healthcare reform.
EmploymentCrossing CEO A. Harrison Barnes says ''The Christmas season is a good time to get some temp work. I know this is not what most college graduates imagine doing, but retail and food industry are some places where there are several part-time and seasonal jobs coming up during December.'' EmploymentCrossing has been able to find 72,000 jobs in a day.

Contact:
Roger Croft
Editorial Coordinator
Employment Research Institute
626-243-1814
rogerc@employmentresearchinstitute.com

About EmploymentCrossing:
EmploymentCrossing is part of the Employment Research Institute, which is one of the most powerful and comprehensive organizations dedicated to helping professionals find jobs that will enhance their careers. Employment Research Institute consists of hundreds of industry-specific and location-specific job boards which consolidates every job opening it can find in one convenient location. The website also offers a seventy two-hour free trial to new members.