The Best Job Markets for Young College Grads Now

Summer has waned and people are heading back to school or back to work. But for relatively recent college graduates whose careers were essentially put on hold by the Great Recession, the end of summer is time to redouble their job search. A March 2014 report by the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics found that only 64 percent of 2008 graduates had full-time jobs one year out of college—a striking number even compared to similar recession-era classes of 2000 (78 percent) and 1994 (79 percent). Economic crises wreak particular havoc on young people, who often have a harder time finding that crucial first job and get started in their careers.

So Labor Day is a good time to ask: Where are the best job markets for recent college grads?