A recent study released by the John J.
Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University shows
that the employment rate for new college graduates has plummeted over
the past two years. Only half of the jobs found by recent graduates
require a degree.
Starting salaries have fallen as well,
with the median starting salary for students who graduated from a
four-year college only $27,000 in 2009 and 2010, a decrease from the
median of $30,000 earned by those who graduated from 2006 to 2008.
This indicates a 10 percent decline in pay for college graduates
before adjusting the numbers for inflation.
According to the study, only 56 percent
of 2010 graduates were able to find work. This is a drastic decrease
from 2006 and 2007, when there was a 90 percent rate of employment
for college graduates. Those who majored in area studies and
humanities were less likely to find work than those who majored in
education and engineering.
The number of graduates aged 25 to 34
employed in bars and food service rose 17 percent in 2009. Similar
increases were found for employment at gas stations, taxi services
and alcohol and food stores. The increase in college graduates
employed in these industries has pushed out the less-educated workers
that normally take these jobs.
“The less schooling you had, the more
likely you were to get thrown out of the labor market altogether,”
said Northeastern University economist Andrew M. Sum. “There is
complete displacement all the way down.” (The New York Times,
May, 19)
Graduates are also struggling to pay
off the heavy burden of student loans, the median of which is $20,000
for those who graduated from 2006 to 2010.
Unemployment is part of the unstable, boom-bust nature of capitalism.
Only the rich benefit from an increase in the number of unemployed
and underemployed workers, because desperate people will work for
less.
