Utah grads entering hot job market
The roughly 20,000 new graduates will be vying for jobs in an economy marked with low unemployment and increased recruiting activity for skilled workers throughout the state, according to estimates from Utah's Department of Workforce Services.
The U. alone had 160 college recruiters on its campus this year at Spring Career Fair, compared to only 113 last year.
"Job growth is very strong in Utah," said James Wood, director of the university's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. "Nearly 50,000 new jobs have been created in the past year. All sectors of Utah are expanding."
Utah's job growth rate of 4.3 percent currently outpaces the national average of 1.6 percent. Construction, business services and health care are some of the most in-demand careers in Utah's market, Wood said.
Officials at the Department of Workforce Services predict accountants, school teachers, computer programmers, insurance sales agents and loan officers will see the most openings for applicants with bachelor's degrees in 2006.
Accounting grads are facing a hot hiring market nationally with the greatest number of job offers for graduates with an accounting degree. Engineering, contracting and consulting are also among the top industries offering jobs to grads this year, according to a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
Employers included in the NACE survey indicated they will increase new college hiring by 14.5 percent this year.
Stan Inman, director of Career Services at the U., said some students will be receiving extra perks of the good job market with signing bonuses and multiple offers.
"A college degree is still the best investment you can make," Inman said in a news release. "For each year of post-high school education, students can expect a 15 to 20 percent increase in compensation, which calculated over a lifetime is extremely significant."
E-mail: estewart@desnews.com
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