Job Picture Looks Bleak for 2013 College Grads

Even as new numbers show the overall employment picture improving—or at least not getting worse—new college graduates may not be so lucky when it comes to finding work.

A survey released last week from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reported that businesses plan to hire only 2.1 percent more college graduates from the class of 2013 than they did from the class of 2012.

That's way down from an earlier NACE projection of a 13 percent hiring rate for 2013 grads. (Read More: Surging Student-Loan Debt Is Crushing the System)

This comes even as the college graduate jobless picture seems to be getting better. The rate of unemployment in 2012 for college grads—defined as 20-24 years old—was 6.3 percent, down from the 8.3 percent for 2011 graduates, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate in 2010 was 9.4 percent.

It's not only a bleaker job outlook 2013 graduates face. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the class of 2013 will likely earn less over the next 10-15 years, than they would have before the recession hit and jobs were more plentiful. Read more >>