Job markets smile on the educated

Job seekers holding college degrees are weathering the economic downturn and troubled recovery in America with surprisingly good fortune. Unlike their unfortunate counterparts that lack even a high school diploma the brightest are finding work.

Employment among college graduates has increased by more than 1.1 million jobs in the last year even as less educated workers saw 2 million jobs lost.

The unemployment rate among college graduates in July was 2.9 percent while the rate among workers lacking a high school degree was 8.7 percent.

Employees with a bachelor's degree earn an average of about $50,000 annually while those who have graduated from high school earn only about $27,000.

Employment specialists report that a college degree today is what a high school degree used to be a minimum employment criterion.

"Employers are looking to bring in ideas and intellectual property, rather than raw skills," comments Bank One's Diane Swonk.

Source: Stephanie Armour, Downturn Goes Easier on College-Educated Workers, USA Today, August 29, 2002.

For text
http://careers.usatoday.com/service/usa/national/content/news/economy/2002-08-29-college-degrees

For more on Education http://www.ncpa.org/iss/edu/

FMF Policy Bulletin\3 September 2002

Publish date: 11 September 2002
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Culture and Institutions,

The views expressed in the article are the author’s and are not necessarily shared by the members of the Foundation. This article may be republished without prior consent but with acknowledgement to the author.

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