Jobs Not So Opportune

The economic recession is cramping the job market throughout the country, but students are still fighting for financial freedom.

The number of unemployed people increased by 558,000 to 15.7 million in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage point to 10.2 percent, the highest rate since April 1983.

Numbers may seem abstract, but the recession hits home--literally.

“I lost my job about seven months ago because the company I was working for cut a bunch of workers to stay in business,” said senior Jason Matthews. “I couldn’t pay the rent and had to move back into my parents house for awhile.”

Some students believe that the pricey process of even looking for a job is making people more financially unstable. “I would say it is pretty bad because not a lot of people have a steady job. I think that not a lot of people have jobs and are becoming homeless, said sophomore Christina Kelljcheain.

According Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment growth has eased slightly but people are still feeling the impact. “There was really no place to find a job and I live in the country so there was nowhere that I could find a stable job,” said Kelljcheain.

Some students believe that federal government is not doing its best to “bail out” many Americans who are struggling to find work. “I don’t think the Obama administration is really taking the job loss situation seriously but I don’t blame him for something he didn’t start,” said junior Jessica Meininger.

Young people looking for internships today regard it as critical process, and one they are taking seriously. Some believe internship availability is going the way of the job market—downhill. “I want to get this one internship and I’m basically one out of 30,000 students applying and they only take 30 kids for the summer,” said junior Shannon Dingle.

Adding to the difficulty is that experienced people who are out of work are willing to take lower-paying entry level positions that were once the domain of new graduates. “It was horrible because everywhere I went they said they were looking for people and then they found people that quit other jobs because they thought they were more qualified,” said Kelljcheain.

A number of people notice others are fighting to keep their jobs after staff reductions. “My aunt lost her job but fought for it and is still employed for now,” said Dingle.

The bright side may be that the sour economy is spurring streams of entrepreneurs. Kimberly Travis began selling candles and scented oils because she was tired of searching for job since not many businesses were hiring in her area.

“I actually couldn’t find a job for awhile so I started to sell candles and now I’m profiting a lot,” said Travis. Now she has her own Web page and is selling to people across the United States.

Some young people are still profiting in the workforce—and that makes them more grateful of the jobs they do land. Matthews is now newly employed, and he’s finding it easy to overlook small inconveniences. “I found a job a few weeks back actually on a business’s website and now I’m working full-time with benefits,” said Matthews. “It’s a long drive but it’s worth it.”