DALLAS (KRLD) - The latest information says the Class of 2019 is graduating at the right time.
According to Bankrate Senior Economic Analyst Mark Hamrick, the employment outlook for this year's college graduates is among the best in years. Hamrick said, "There is one survey, for example, of employers that is done in conjunction with colleges and universities. And it finds that firms plan to hire nearly 11% more members of the Class of '19 graduates, compared to '18. So, this is the best springtime outlook in terms of the hiring survey for college graduates since 2011."
And Hamrick said there are jobs out there for qualified candidates. The construction and manufacturing sectors continue to struggle to find workers with the proper skills. Other growing sectors include leisure and hospitality, business and professional services and food and drinking establishments.
There are also opportunities available in cutting-edge industries like alternative energy. Hamrick said, "Two jobs that were at the top of the list from the U.S. Labor Department, believe it or not, were solar panel installers and wind turbine service technicians, both growing about 100% a year in the sense of jobs being added."
More broadly, many of today's major growth positions are found in health care. Hamrick said, "We think about the aging population. The U.S. spends 1/5 of its GDP on health care. And there's always going to be demand across the board for health care-related professions. That includes the super-specialists in medicine, as well as lower-wage jobs like technicians in medical labs and the like."
