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More graduates 'out of work'
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More graduates failed to find a jobs last year after leaving university in the midst of the economic downturn, according to an official report.
By Graeme Paton
Figures show eight per cent of graduates - 16,835 - were unemployed six months after finishing courses compared with just six per cent a year earlier.
Those finding work were also much more likely to be in low-paid jobs, with some working as bar staff, labourers, shelf stackers, parking attendants and cleaners.
Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency also underlined the premium of a top degree.
The figures showed that students taking creative arts and history courses were among those most likely to be unemployed. More than one in 10 students with architecture, building and planning degrees were also jobless - reinforcing fears over a decline in the housing market.
However, only 0.2 per cent of medicine and dentistry graduates were out of work.
The disclosure comes amid warnings that job prospects will be even worse this summer.
Analysts already say graduate positions will be squeezed as the recession forces employers to impose a recruitment freeze. A survey of the top 100 graduate employers published earlier this week found that vacancies had been cut by more than a quarter this year.
Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said: "These figures foretell the crisis awaiting graduates this summer as a result of the recession. Students are racking up thousands of pounds of debt because of fees, and many will be extremely worried at the lack of job prospects when they leave university."
But the Government insisted that a degree was still a worthwhile investment.
David Lammy, the Higher Education Minister, said: "Figures show that even in tough times a degree is a strong investment which stands graduates in good stead for a long and successful career. Employment rates for graduates continue to be higher than for those with lower qualifications."
HESA published data on 276,595 people who left universities across Britain last summer, including 200,090 degree students. The report tracks their progress six months after graduation, covering the period last autumn when the collapse of Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions triggered a global economic crisis.
According to the report, 16,835 graduates were unemployed, compared to 11,000 a year earlier and almost 12,000 in 2006.
Some 62 per cent of degree graduates found a job - down from 64 per cent - but slightly more students took another qualification.
Students with arts, history, philosophy. business, building, computer science and physical sciences degrees were more likely to be unemployed than the national average.
Among graduates with jobs, five per cent were working in "elementary occupations", compared with four per cent a year earlier. Almost 11 per cent of students were in sales jobs, against 9.6 per cent in 2007.
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