Among Bloomsburg University students, there are fears that come to mind with the thoughts of graduation. In recent years the concern of high unemployment rates has been climbing up to the top of the list.
The previous four years of the Obama administration have had unemployment rates shooting up and down. Now with the upcoming elections, the college graduates of the nation want to know what is going to be done to keep those rates as low as possible.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics under the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate within the United States in November of 2008 (Obama’s first election) stood at 6.8 percent. The rate would continue to rise until it hit its peak at 10 percent in October of 2009. Over the next three years it would slowly decrease to its current 8.1 percent status.
It would appear, according to these statistics, that the Obama administration has not regarded unemployment as a top priority that American citizens are struggling with in today’s society.
When asked her thoughts about the issue of unemployment, local Bloomsburg University student and registered Republican, Madison Fox stated “I think that people should earn what they get and not just be handed a check for my hard hours worked.”
Another Bloomsburg University student and registered Democrat, Bobby Spengler, was asked for his thoughts on unemployment and answered with “I think that the current rate of 8.1 is a little ridiculously high but I also think that it’s going to happen no matter what. There will always be someone who is unemployed. We live in a nation of more than 300 million people; of course someone will always need a job.”
Unemployment is a top issue in the upcoming 2012 presidential election between the nation’s current president Barack Obama and the selected Republican candidate Mitt Romney. When asked what she thought Romney could provide for the issue of unemployment, Fox said, “I think he would reinstall the Work for Welfare program, and I would concur with that choice.” And when asked what he thought Obama would do if re-elected, Spengler stated “Nothing, the President would be democrat and congress is pretty much controlled by republicans and this is an issue they conflict on so nothing would be accomplished.”
Unemployment is an issue that is directly effecting the current generation of college graduates. According to an article published on the Huffington Post site, “the unemployment rate for college graduates between the ages of 20 to 24-year-olds soared five percentage points in the past month — from 7.1 percent in May to 12.1 percent in June, compared with a three percent jump during the same period last year.”
And finally, when asked if the issue of unemployment was something they fear, Fox replied, “Yeah, it’s definitely something that concerns me, especially because I’m a history major and the job I want has a very small field to gain access to. I plan on having a couple of different jobs leading up to what I want to use my degree for, but I hope that I will always have a job.”
Spengler replied “No, it doesn’t make me nervous at all. I think if you have the proper qualifications and right qualities that an employer is looking for then it won’t be a problem. As long as you work hard you are the only person who can stop yourself.”
While there are other issues that the 2012 presidential candidates are concerned about, unemployment is possibly the most prevalent issue to college students in today’s current society of college graduates.
Bloomsburg University students should not have to worry about the rising unemployment rates while they are still in college trying to earn a degree that should aid them in getting a job, post-graduation. Of the U.S. population, 8.1 percent is currently unemployed.
Those who are being affected by it directly, such as graduating Bloomsburg University students, should exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election to support whomever they feel could potentially help lower the unemployment rates and create more jobs for the up and coming generation of college graduates.
