Unemployment and Entry Level Hiring

Since the recession has began, various publications have written stories about how entry level recruits are handling the recession and how they have had to adjust their plans by taking part-time internships, unpaid work, or volunteering until the economy picks up and employers begin hiring again.

Even as the economy starts to turn the corner in its long recovery, data unfortunately suggests even the recent gains in employment are focused on more experienced recruits.

Here are some tidbits from various reports released by research firms around the country over the past few years.

From Michigan State:

This is from Brookings:

And finally, here is the unemployment rate for recent college graduates from the BLS:

So what is the bottom line? Basically, as the economy heats up and the economy turns - jobs will start to come - but will start to increase first at the experienced hire level. This makes getting that finding that first job all the more important - and increase your earning potential in the later years of your career (as there are so few entry level hires right now - the 2/3 year experienced hires at full time jobs will also be valued).