The Unemployment Debacle

For the past two years jobs have been lost in every single sector of the economy. Many people are now going from full time employment to part time employment, they are effectively under employed. As a soon to be graduate from a University in California I can only look out to the job prospects and see an even bleaker future than most of the graduates before me.

Current unemployment rate is 10.2% nation-wide, but this number does not take into account the families that are underemployed, nor does it even count all of the people in the country. Something that most people don't know about is the fact that unemployment rates only count people that are actively seeking jobs and are not currently students. Many economists believe that actual unemployment rate is somewhere around 15% nationwide and in a state like California; it could be as high as 19%. Now, correct me if I'm wrong people, but during the Great Depression unemployment was at rate of 25%; don't you think that we're getting awfully close? Every month more jobs are lost to the abyss last month there were 119,000 jobs lost, but that's seen as progress by some economists because it was "Better than expected." We must open our eyes and see what is really going on here, the economy has been tanking for months upon months but nobody seems to be doing anything productive about it.

How does this affect you and your future? Well that depends on where you are at in your career, if you have a lot of time before retirement you might be okay. If, however, you are middle-aged and recently unemployed, what are your options other than a fast food restaurant or some other entry level position? That is the million dollar question, what sectors are growing and what is shrinking? Not surprisingly green energy companies are sprouting up like weeds, make a quick Google search of local businesses and have your pick. Another sector seeing growth is the health care industry. The people that I believe will be most adversely affected by the current job situation are recent college grads.

The problem with having a degree is that it's only a piece of paper. An applicant with 4 years of job experience will get the job before the candidate with a degree and maybe 2 months of internship hours. Unemployment doesn't officially count students so it would be difficult to get an accurate read on the whole demographic so I will use an example out of my personal life. Last year 10 of my friends graduated with degrees in Business Administration, one of them started a career, the rest of them are at their old jobs or interning in an unrelated field.

Even though jobs are being taken away every day new jobs are being created too, and those positions need to be filled. If you are currently seeking employment the best advice is be resilient, put together a good resume, and tailor fit it to the company you are approaching for employment. Look to the health care industry as well as the green sector for new job opportunities. College grads, you're going to have to work now more than ever to get that entry level position, remember, you're competing with people old enough to be your parents, and they have experience to boot.