Unemployment Rates in Oregon Vary by Field of Bachelor's Degree

Earlier this month, thousands of students in Oregon graduated with bachelor's degrees as the 2012-2013 school year ended. Though a certain percentage will pursue further education, thousands will enter the labor force looking for a job. Unfortunately for these graduates, it's a tough job market. As of May 2013, approximately 146,000 Oregonians were unemployed and looking for work. On a brighter note, bachelor's degree recipients are more likely to be employed and tend to have lower unemployment rates than those with less education.

However, not all bachelor's degrees are equal and just having a bachelor's degree is not a guarantee of landing a job. A few national reports have noted the differences in employment status among degree fields. In Oregon, unemployment rates by field of degree appear to follow national trends. Based on estimates from the 2009-2011 American Community Survey, individuals whose first field of study for their bachelor's degree was health related, such as nursing or medical technology technicians, were more likely to have low rates of unemployment. Individuals with degrees in biological, agricultural, and environmental sciences; psychology; business; education; and engineering also had lower rates of unemployment compared with other degrees.

For more information about employment status as well as earnings by field of bachelor's degree, check out the full article -- written by me -- on QualityInfo.org.