College grad job outlook, pay stronger this year

By G. Scott Thomas

updated 6:37 p.m. ET April 10, 2007

More than a million college seniors are preparing to enter the real world this spring — and their prospects are remarkably good.

The number of new college graduates hired by U.S. companies will be 17.4 percent larger this year than a year ago, says a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a human-resources organization.

"The outlook this year is very good," says Andrea Koncz, NACE's employment information manager. "In 2002 and '03, we saw declines in hiring because of 9/11 and the economy. But in '04, hiring turned upward, and it's been growing ever since."

That's good news, but trends can still vary substantially at the local level, even if the national forecast is upbeat. The trick for any new grad is to pinpoint the hottest markets right now.

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Topping that list is Las Vegas, according to a new Bizjournals study that identifies the 10 metropolitan areas where job opportunities are strongest for young adults.

"Las Vegas, of course, has a very special type of economy," says Sophia Koropeckyj, an economist with Moody's Economy.com, an international research firm. "And it doesn't seem likely to be quitting anytime soon. Las Vegas just keeps on going."

Bizjournals analyzed 171 metros, looking for qualities that would appeal to workers in their 20s and early 30s. It gave the highest marks to places with strong growth rates, moderate costs of living, and substantial pools of young adults who have college degrees and jobs.

Las Vegas emerged as the leader among the nation's 66 big markets, those metros with at least 750,000 residents. It finished at or near the top in several of the study's 10 statistical categories:

• The population of Las Vegas has been increasing at an annual rate of 4.2 percent since 2000. That's three and a half times the U.S. average of 1.2 percent.
• The area also ranks first in employment growth, expanding its job base 5.6 percent annually since 2001. That pace generated 226,700 jobs during the past five years, including 45,900 in 2006 alone.
• It offers the possibility of swift advancement. Nearly 15 percent of Las Vegas' householders under the age of 25 make at least $75,000 a year. The national average is 5 percent. (A householder, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, is a person in whose name a house or apartment is bought or rented.)

Western strength
There's a distinctly Western flavor to Bizjournals' list of the 10 most attractive metro areas for young adults.

Four other Western metros are among the 10 leaders: Phoenix (second), Salt Lake City (fifth), Seattle (eighth) and the Riverside-San Bernardino (10th) region in California.

"In particular, the interior West has done really well the past few years," says Hugo Sellert, research manager for Monster Worldwide Inc., the parent company of Monster.com, an online employment service.

"A lot of companies moved to places like Las Vegas and Phoenix from the Northeast and Midwest, because costs there were cheaper," he says. "And there's also been a substantial relocation of people there from the coastal West. It may slow down a bit in the future, but those are still strong markets."

Rounding out Bizjournals' top 10 are Washington (third), Raleigh, N.C. (fourth), Minneapolis-St. Paul (sixth), Austin, Texas (seventh), and Orlando (ninth).

Two of those markets can thank the research boom for their high rankings.

"University towns like Raleigh and Austin are still seeing a lot of job growth," says Sellert. "Biotechnology, IT (information technology) — those sectors remain strong. And research firms in those fields typically set up close to universities."

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