Tepid job market hits hard among college grads

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - In a recovering economy, landing a job can be a daunting prospect.  And a new report shows it will be even harder for college graduates.

The Department of Labor’s most recent jobless report highlights a trend that is happening all across the country.  Leaving many college graduates no choice but to go back to school and further their education while waiting out the tepid job market.

“I'm getting my masters in education for history and even as a future history teacher I know that the job market is going to be really difficult,” said Emily Hagan who lives in Northampton.

The same holds true for Christina Chisholm who recently moved from Philadelphia to western Massachusetts to pursue a PhD in Molecular Biology. 

“I do know people who graduated this May and who are panicking to look for jobs six months after because they have pay their student loans back and they can't find work,” said Chisholm on the UMass Amherst campus Thursday afternoon. 

Recent figures from the labor department show the jobless rate grew in nearly 90 percent of large U.S. cities in the month of June. Places like New York City, San Antonio, and even Springfield, where the unemployment rate went up from 6.8 percent to 7.5 percent; all cities that are home to large universities.

“I have friends that are really motivated really competent people, others that are more lazy.  Most of them, that have really been searching found something related to what they studied. Whether or not they are happy? I don't know,” said Luke Anthony Beck of Sunderland, who’s in graduate school for architecture. 

The unemployment rate in Massachusetts went up half a point to 6.3 percent in the month of June.