by Calculated Risk on 5/18/2011 09:46:00 PM

From Catherine Rampell at the NY Times: Many With New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling

Employment rates for new college graduates have fallen sharply in the last two years, as have starting salaries for those who can find work. What’s more, only half of the jobs landed by these new graduates even require a college degree ...

The median starting salary for students graduating from four-year colleges in 2009 and 2010 was $27,000, down from $30,000 for those who entered the work force in 2006 to 2008, according to a study released on Wednesday ...

Among the members of the class of 2010, just 56 percent had held at least one job by this spring, when the survey was conducted. That compares with 90 percent of graduates from the classes of 2006 and 2007.

And many of there recent graduates are saddled with excessive student debt - a difficult situation and a poor time to start a career.