Unemployment rate higher without college degree

With the national unemployment rate at 8 percent, members of the U.S. population ages 20 to 24 face a 12 percent unemployment rate — unless you have a college degree.
The unemployment rate for recent graduates entering the job market is 4 percent, said Richard White, director of Career Services for the University.
“In this economic climate, there is always good news to complement the bad news,” White said.
College graduates navigating the entry-level job market still enjoy certain advantages, he said. They are less expensive to employ than 15-year, middle-management veterans of the business world and are perceived as fresh and energetic workers willing to learn.
“A college education in good times and bad does still count towards getting a job,” he said.
Nationally, 20 to 24 year olds without a high school or college education face 12 percent unemployment rate, White said.
Young teenagers ages 16 to 19 in New York City faced a 16.7 percent unemployment rate, a doubling of the overall unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, said Lisa Boily, an economist with Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Trenton-Ewing area of New Jersey reflected a 7.5 percent unemployment rate, Boily said.
Career success is directly related to a college education, said Eric Burnett, a Livingston College senior.
“I was always raised knowing a college education would help because you can’t go really far without it,” said Burnett, who is pursuing a graduate degree in the growing health profession field.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers conducts a quarterly survey to assess employer expectations of hiring from newly graduated students, White said. Last fall, the NACE survey reported that hiring by employers is likely to remain flat for 2009, but the most recent survey told a different story.
NACE most recently reported a 22 percent decrease in overall hiring and a 21 percent decrease in internship and co-op hiring, he said.
“But that still means a lot of hiring will be taking place. It’s not an 80 plus percent decrease,” White said.
The survey reported 93 percent of employers would still be hiring for some positions, down 2 percent from the last survey, he said.
“There’s good news and there’s bad news,” White said.
White recalled a similar situation in the early eighties when he oversaw the college recruiting centers for big companies like Nabisco and International Paper, he said.
Some companies chose to stop entry-level hiring during tough times but missed having that gap in their labor force five years later, he said.
If the job market can retain some institutional memory and engage in long-term planning, business will continue to bring in talent, White said. There are many resources available to students to help them in the job market.
Burnett said he is not entering the job market now but if he were, he would look into Career Services.
“I wouldn’t know where [else] to go,” Burnett said.
Career Services offers many different services to students to help them in their job search, said Associate Director Chrystal McArthur.
“People are getting job offers,” she said.
One such event is a seminar titled “Hot Careers in New Jersey in 2009 and Beyond,” featured in partnership with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development in the Busch Campus Center Multipurpose Room from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 17, she said.
Speakers from the Heldrich Center will speak to students about different demographics in the job market and available opportunities, McArthur said.
Education plays an important role in the job market, even in difficult times, White said.
“Education is not an end in itself but a means to leading a productive life and career,” he said.