Half of new graduates are jobless or underemployed

A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.

Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs — waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example — and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

An analysis of government data conducted for the Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor's degrees.

Opportunities for college graduates vary widely.

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College Degrees Employers Want Most

Do you want to go back to school and earn a degree that employers actually want?

In their "Job Outlook 2012" report, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) uncovered which college degrees are most wanted by employers in 2012.

The report also noted that the surveyed employers said that they plan to hire 9.5 percent more new graduates between 2011 and 2012 than they did between 2010 and 2011.

New York career expert and psychologist, Eileen Sharaga, is not surprised by these numbers. "Economic reports indicate that employers are starting to hire," says Sharaga, noting that industries like accounting, finance, and computer science are seeing a bright hiring outlook.

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