College is Good For You--But Then You Knew That!

A huge issue in the current presidential primary season in the US has to do with jobs. Most economists seem to think that we are out the other side of the Great Recession, but jobs have not bounced back in great numbers, although the trend seems generally upward, as the Department of Labor just reported. Unemployment is not a random thing, however, and the Associated Press has put together a demographic composite of unemployment rates. The results are not surprising, but it is useful to be reminded of them, nonetheless:

For workers without a high school diploma, seasonally adjusted unemployment slid from 15.1 percent to 13.8 percent. Among high school graduates with no college experience, it fell from 9.8 percent to 8.7 percent.

Unemployment among those with a college degree-- an associate's, a bachelor's or more — did tick down but not as much. The rate for those with a bachelor's degree or beyond declined from 4.8 percent to 4.1 percent. Five years ago, it was just 1.8 percent. So, even though the average amount of debt carried by college students is increasing (due largely to cutbacks in government funding of colleges and universities), it is still the case that the best way to assure yourself of a decent future is to get a college education.