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Jobs And The Class Of 2014

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The class of 2014 hits the job market.  We look at where the jobs are – and aren’t – and get a little advice from Peyton Manning.

New York University graduates stand during the playing of the national anthem before their graduation ceremony Wednesday, May 21, 2014, at Yankee Stadium in New York. (AP)
New York University graduates stand during the playing of the national anthem before their graduation ceremony Wednesday, May 21, 2014, at Yankee Stadium in New York. (AP)

These are graduation days all over – college, community college, high school – and, for most, the very next agenda item is a job.  The years of the Great Recession were brutal for new grads.  And long.  What about now?  The Class of 2014 is reported to be the most optimistic in years about its job prospects.  Are they right about that?  We hope so. But it’s still a challenge out there.  So where and what are the jobs now?  Who’s getting them, and how?  What are the hot fields?  Hot cities?  Regions?  Countries?  This hour On Point:  jobs, and the Class of 2014.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Heidi Shierholz, economist with the Economic Policy Institute. (@hshierholz)

Edwin Koc, director of strategic and foundation research at the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Maria Stein, associate vice president of cooperative education and career development at Northeastern University. (@MariaStein1)

Janelle Jones, research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. (@janellecj)

From Tom's Reading List

USA Today: Job outlook for 2014 college grads puzzling — "A jobs report for April gave grads a puzzling picture. Employers added the most jobs in more than two years, 288,000. Unemployment dropped from 6.7% to 6.3%, the first time it was that low since September 2008. Still, the portion of Americans 25-34 who were working in April fell to a five-month low of 75.5%, down from 75.9% in March."

Economic Policy Institute: The Weak Economy Is Idling Too Many Young Graduates -- "The weak labor market has been, and continues to be, very tough on young workers: At 14.5 percent, the March 2014 unemployment rate of workers under age 25 was slightly over twice as high as the overall unemployment rate, 6.7 percent. Though the labor market is headed in the right direction, it is improving very slowly, and the job prospects for young high school and college graduates remain dim."

NACE: New College Graduate Hiring to Increase 8.6 Percent -- "More than half of hiring employers report interest in bachelor’s degree graduates in accounting and various business fields, engineering, and/or computer sciences. More than half also expect to hire master’s level candidates, including M.B.A.s, for their U.S. operations."

Peyton Manning Gives UVA Graduates A Passing Chance

Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

This program aired on May 22, 2014.

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