New Normal: Majority Of Unemployed Attended College

Investor's Business Daily ^ | 5/17/12 | Jed Graham

[marshmallow]

For the first time in history, the number of jobless workers age 25 and up who have attended some college now exceeds the ranks of those who settled for a high school diploma or less.

Out of 9 million unemployed in April, 4.7 million had gone to college or graduated and 4.3 million had not, seasonally adjusted Labor Department data show.

That's a swing of more than 2 million since the start of 1992, early in another jobless recovery, when 4.1 million who hadn't gone to college were jobless vs. 2.3 million jobless who had gone.

Mostly, this dramatic shift reflects broad demographic forces. A greater share of the population has attended college, at least for a time. Meanwhile, older Americans who were less likely to pursue higher education are exiting the work force.

In 2011, 57% of those 25 and up had attended some college vs. 43% in 1992. Those without a high school diploma fell from 21% to 12% over that span.

But along with the increasing prevalence of college attendance has come a growing number of dropouts, who have left school burdened by student loan debt but without much to kick-start their careers.

Unemployment for those 25 and up with some college but no degree was 8% in April compared to 6.6% for the age group, measured on a more volatile seasonally unadjusted basis. In the same month, the jobless rate was 7.7% for 25-and-up high school grads with no college and 6.2% for those with a two-year college degree.

[rovenstinez]

VERY interesting, and I know people in school because they can get grants, school loans and just keep kicking the can down the road.

[OldEarlGray]

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[RobertClark]

VERY interesting, and I know people in school because they can get grants, school loans and just keep kicking the can down the road.

Yes, interesting indeed. One of my competitors went out of business early this year, and I attempted to hire a couple of their employees. One of them told me: "I'm going to go to school once my UE runs out, so I can live on that school money.".

Rather than taking a job paying her what she was making at her employer who had just gone out of business, she elected to ride UE until it expired and then begin getting Pell Grants along with additional UE benefits that are opened up by being a "displaced worker" attending school. THat along with her section 8 housing assistance and SNAP benefits, is bringing in a boatload in taxpayer funds.

What a load of Sh*T!

[Buckeye McFrog]

Which means their expectations have been raised WAY above those of an unemployed man during the Depression, who would have gratefully taken a ditch digging or dish washing job.

This can’t end well.

[pallis]

Unemployed college students should take a good look at this work scene, because it is all Obama and crew are going to offer. It will get much worse if he is reelected. Expect to go nowhere in life until Obama and his thugs start assigning you to meaningless jobs, and redistributing your parent’s property.