No Job Too Small
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for college graduates over 25 years of age and possessing four-year degrees or higher, spanning from Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011, averaged more than 4.3 percent. With a labor force of more than 46,000 and a participation rate near 76 percent, economists might call this "natural unemployment". By this they mean that anything less than 4.5 or 4.6 percent indicates a flourishing economy and that the number of unemployed reflect those transitioning jobs or otherwise willfully unemployed from month-to-month.
The national unemployment rate has been hovering above 9 percent for the last two years. As of Sept. 2011 the percentage of jobless Americans remained 9.1 percent.
A new pool of graduates will be unleashed upon the workforce, or unemployment offices, in the next 6 months. WIll they be lining up at the cash register to infuse the economy with a much needed boost or will they find themselves at their local Worksource location? Recently the state of Florida instituted a mandatory drug-screen for applicants seeking unemployment benefits. Cities across the country, and some states such as Rhode Island, claim to be on the verge of declaring bankruptcy.
Are Freddie and Fannie really to blame? Perhaps the bailout wasn't such a grand idea. On the other hand, the rapidly accelerating Occupy Wall Street movement is a testiment to the fact that most citizens simply don't care.
"Just fix it," seems to be the mandate to both Wall Street and to Washington, D.C. A policy shift, one hinted at by Bank of America and Wells Fargo backtracking on their proposals to charge debit card fees, in the way our economy operates looms large in the dining table crystal balls across this land. Sitting around the Thanksgiving table later this month families will likely be thankful for the bit they still have than in years past. Whether the continually downsizing airline industry will be impacted as intensely as the last two years remains to be seen.
Change has come. Just not the one many we're chanting for during the last presidential election cycle. As the holidays and an election year loom, those also looking forward to graduating have a bit more anxiety to contend with than their parents did at this point in their lives. Then again, they had the draft and Kent State to contend with. So far, we have managed to avoid repeating that degree of social unrest. I for one only hope that next year's senior class is as lucky.
