Hard times: college majors, unemployment and earnings: not all college degrees are created equal

A Bachelor's degree is one of the best weapons a job seeker can wield in the fight for employment and earnings. Staying on campus to earn a graduate degree provides safe shelter from the immediate economic storm, and will pay off with greater employability and earnings once the graduate enters the labor market. Unemployment for students with new Bachelor's degrees is an unacceptable 8.9 per cent, but it's a catastrophic 22.9 per cent for job seekers with a recent high school diploma - and an almost unthinkable 31.5 per cent for recent high school dropouts. The risk of unemployment among recent college graduates depends on their major. The unemployment rate for recent graduates is highest in architecture (13.9 per cent) because of the collapse of the construction and home building industry in the recession. Unemployment rates are generally higher in non-technical majors, such as the arts (11.1 per cent), humanities and liberal arts (9.4 per cent), social science (8.9 per cent) and law and public policy (8.1 per cent).

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