For class of 2009, degree doesn’t mean a job

Employment counselors and job placement specialists say the class of 2009 faces a daunting task finding work in the worst economy since the Great Depression. ...

More than half of graduates in the class of 2007 had job offers in hand when they finished school, the association said. That figure dropped to one-quarter of 2008 graduates — after the recession began in December 2007 — and for the class of 2009, it was fewer than one-fifth.

Projections for the class of 2010 won’t be final until the fall, but the association said the picture next spring was likely to be even worse.

It’s no surprise, then, that this year’s graduates are “frustrated” and “scared,” said Peter Perkins, director of career services at the State University of New York Institute of Technology in Utica, N.Y. ...