Unemployment
Rate on the Rise
Class of 2010 Faces a Tough Economy
Cameron Fuller, Copy Editor
cfuller@csumb.edu
As graduation fast approaches, the question many students find themselves asking is, “Where do I go from here?” There are many options for a newly baccalaureated person; going to grad school and continuing education or volunteering for a charity or noble cause are two that many choose. However, the one with seemingly the most financial gain is joining the work force. Since thousands of dollars has been spent learning about life, philosophy, ethics, business, English and the myriad of other subjects one learns in college, this option seems like the best choice. But with the nation in what many economists have called the worst economic downturn since the great depression, where does a budding academic go to find a job?
The national unemployment rate has risen in April to 9.9 percent; at the beginning of the year it was 9.7 percent. To put that number in perspective, when the class of 2010 first entered school in 2006, unemployment was at a low of 4.7 percent, according to CNN. That means that in the time in which college students gained their higher education, the number of unemployed people doubled. This information may seem troubling to some, but to fresh collegiate graduates, this could mean more potential jobs.
As sad as it sounds, businesses cut jobs and employees for many reasons. Some jobs are reduced because of a merging of companies or manufacturing plants and now there are job redundancies. Or perhaps the worker isn’t producing the proper quality of work. But some companies cut employees just because they can no longer afford a specific employee. This is where a job opening for a new grad appears. Companies can pay new graduates less money than someone who has held the position for a long time and has acquired several raises.
According the the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) there are several industries that had employment spikes in April 2010. For example, the manufacturing industry added 44,000 jobs last month. The best metropolitan areas to look for a job include Fargo and Bismark, ND, and Lincoln, NE all with an unemployment rate of 5 percent or less; North and South Dakota and Nebraska having the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. Places to avoid include most of California; nine of the bottom 10 metropolitan areas with the highest unemployment rates on the BLS website are in California. Salinas metropolitan area is ranked 359 of 372 with a rate of 16.8 percent.
Lastly, looking for a job doesn’t start with the classifieds. With so much competition, a way to get a leg up is networking. Joining websites like LinkedIn.com or going to industry trade shows and meeting working professionals gets the attention of people who might be looking now or in the future for employees.
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