New grads are making less

This article, by Aimee Picchi, discusses the discovery that recent college graduates today are making less money than college graduates several years ago. Picchi begins the article with the commonly held belief that the job market is eager for new college graduates. However, she refutes this claim and says that more and more graduates now are finding it to be difficult to secure a job. She uses logos to explain just how much lower hourly wages are today: they are down 8.5% since 2000, which means that they are making an average of about $3200 less per year than college graduates a decade ago. Picchi continues to use logos when she includes a quotation from an economist who attributes this decline in wages to 2 recessions that have hit the US economy since 2000. The economist also compares the grave state of today's economy to the economy of 15 years ago: "Wages rose 19.1% for young college graduates [from 1995 to 2000]." Picchi uses more facts to explain the severity of the issue: college tuition and fees have nearly doubled in the past 10 years.  Picchi explains that "If you graduated in the 21st century...You likely paid more to earn less." The US also employs 70% more young graduates in minimum wage jobs than it did only one decade ago. Picchi explains that an average young college graduate earned about $34,500 per year, and, to make matters worse, the average US student loan debt was higher than $27,000 last year. Therefore, Picchi's ominous tone and inclusion of many facts helps to emphasize that college graduates are unable to find adequate jobs and are therefore underpaid and will inevitably struggle while trying to pain off loans and establish their own life in the real world.

Link to article: http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=2b1fc53d-42fd-43ca-8f7b-2bb2d013ffc4