Unemployment Rates by Educational Attainment; (Blog post 11)

Unemployment rates for recent college graduates

While reading Chapter 13 in the Brown (2012) text, I came across the first opening statement and surprising statistic. It stated that in 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate among worker with a college diploma was 4.9%. While Brown was using this statistic to illustrate that college graduates have a significantly lower unemployment rate compared to the average population of 9.7%, still I was left questioning why the unemployment rate is still almost 5% for graduates with a four-year degree. So, for the purpose of this week’s blog post I thought it appropriate to look more into these percentages of unemployment and see how that compares to more current statistics, in what was reported for 2014.

            In my research, I was able to find a breakdown of earnings and unemployment rates by educational attainment.  This went beyond what I was looking for, but the more recent data from 2014 shows a surprisingly good picture in that unemployment for those who graduated with a 4-year degree was 3.5% (1.5% decrease from 2010).  This is good news and shows that at least almost two years ago, things were a little better (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).

Another statistic that is worth mentioning given our educational attainment is that the unemployment rate for those who have completed a Master’s degree is 2.8%.  This is slightly better than the rate for individual’s who completed a bachelors’ degree, and certainly reflects the statement that I have been told my whole life, which is: “the more education/training you have the more likely you are to have a job.” Though, it may be unsettling to know that those who go on to get a doctorate degree, in 2014 reported a 2.1% unemployment rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).

I know that it isn’t always possible to find a job, but exploring what exactly the rates are for different educational attainment backgrounds was helpful to see the overall picture. As I enter the job force doing the thing I’ve been practicing and training for the last 5 ½ years, I hope that I hope that I do not make up the 2.8% that can’t find a job. It’s definitely a scary thing, but I suppose looking more closely at the numbers it seems as though the odds are in our favor (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).

References

BLS (2010). Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015), U.S. Department of Labor, Earnings and unemployment rates by educational attainment, Employment projects on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2012/ted_20120710.htm (visited November 02, 2015).

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.