When we hear “economic recession,” my friends and I don’t really have a strong grasp on what all is involved. We know that the unemployment rate is higher than it has been in years and that it is becoming harder and harder for college graduates to find a job.

We also know that more students are not able to go to college because they simply cannot afford it. But beyond that, my friends and I do not have a clear understanding of the financial crisis. It’s too bad that we don’t go to Columbia University.

Steven Fraser, an American studies professor at Columbia, is now teaching a class about Wall Street and this financial crisis, comparing it to similar crises in the past.

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It’s a scary time for college graduates. Although the economy has improved recently, we are still in a recession and jobs are hard to come by.

In looking at industries, retail lost 45,000 jobs, finance lost 42,000 jobs, and manufacturing lost 207,000 jobs, signalling the largest one-month decline in over 25 years.  Many college seniors are therefore considering graduate school, simply because there are not enough jobs.

Is there any hope?

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The economy grew at a 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in two years, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes. It’s the strongest signal yet that the economy has entered a new, though fragile, phase of recovery and that the worst recession since the 1930s has ended, according to the Associated Press.

While the economy still has a very rocky and upward hill to climb before it reaches a more solid footing, these new statistics just released by the Commerce Department offer a beacon of hope for Americans, but for graduating college students, they may have to be a bit more patient as they begin their real-world job search in the next few months.

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The recession is hitting college graduates hard. Around 14 percent of recent grads aged 20-24 are currently unemployed. This makes being able to financially support themselves very difficult, if not impossible. So, how can an unemployed college graduate save a few hundred dollars every month? Move back in with mom and dad. However, many recent graduates are finding this option less and less appealing.

Brooke Chrzan, a graduate of The University of New Hampshire, says that living with her parents after being independent in college is “worse than when [she] was a teenager.” Brooke feels her parents treat her “like [she is] 14 again.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Class of 2009 has just graduated college in many states. They have worked hard for about four or five years, spending countless hours in libraries, classes, and review sessions. And now, all of their hard work should start to pay off, in the form of a new career. Unfortunately, for more than 80 percent of recent college graduates, there is not a job offer waiting for them after they walk across that graduation stage.

A recent survey of employers on CareerBuilder.com showed that only 43 percent intended to hire new college graduates this year, compared to 79 percent in 2007. With hundreds of thousands of others graduating this year, it is no wonder that 60 percent of college students polled said they started actively looking for a job during their senior year of college. Read the rest of this entry »