Grim Time for Grads

Early news reports suggest that the job market for college graduates is improving for this year's graduating class, and it might be the best job market in four years, here's a sample:

A pair of interesting articles on MarketWatch highlights the plight of those graduating from college deep in debt and little prospects of landing a good job in their field.

The USA Today reports graduating class of 2012 is in for a rude awakening as Half of new graduates are jobless or underemployed. A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.

Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds College Grads: It's a Different Economy The economy has changed in structural ways; preparing for the old economy is a sure path to disappointment.

Carlos Hernandez Sonseca studied six years for a bachelor’s degree and couldn’t find a job near his home outside Madrid when he graduated in 2011. Last year, he took an increasingly well-worn path to the U.K. The 27-year-old journalist now washes and chops vegetables eight hours a day at the Vital Ingredient salad bar in London’s financial district, making 260 pounds (US$418) before taxes in a 40-hour week. Thirteen other Spaniards are among a workforce of 17, said manager Francisco “Chico” Baumle, a Brazilian.

High school and college kids typically get the jobs that are left over, that no one else really wants, such as working at McDonalds. However, competition for any job is no so intense, that teens cannot find any job that no one else wants. As a result of that increased competition, Number of high-school students with jobs hits 20-year low