Job Climate For Class of 2008 Is A Bit Warmer Than Expected
Kurt Brouwer May 31st, 2008
Job Climate for the Class of 2008 Is a Bit Warmer Than Expected (New York Times, May 31, 2008, Kate Murphy) [NYT link requires free registration]
Given that the economy is flagging, this would seem an inauspicious time to be graduating from college and looking for full-time employment.
Job prospects this year, however, have been better than career counselors and recent graduates had expected. Employers are still extending offers, just not as many as last year.
Economists said the class of 2008 has been helped by employers concerned by the impending exodus of baby boomers from the work force. But they warn that the job market is going to get tougher as the full extent of the nation’s financial problems emerges, and they predict a growing inequality in access to employment between elite and lower-achieving students.
…Regardless, many in the class of 2008 have found employment. Preliminary surveys conducted by university and college career counselors indicate that the percentage of students who had found jobs by graduation was about the same as last year. The salaries were also comparable to last year, which, given inflation, could be interpreted as a decline…
As we have written previously (see The Peekaboo Recession — Is It or Isn’t It?), this is clearly an economic downturn, but not necessarily a recession. This story is another indicator that the economy is still chugging along. Companies and other organizations are hiring the same percentage of college grads as they did last year. That alone would be an anomaly in a recession. Also, they are paying the same salaries. Anyone who has been hiring college grads in the past few years knows that starting salaries have gone up considerably in the past few years. So, the fact that salary scales are the same (rather than falling) is also a sign that employers do not perceive the economy to be that difficult.
Via: BrothersJuddBlog
- Business , Economy , Geopolitics , Money , Personal Finance
- Comments(0)
Did you enjoy this article?
