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Job markets smile on the educated

Free Market Foundation

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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

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