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Steep drop in UK graduate unemployment with more in professional services

There has been a big fall in graduate unemployment in the UK according to new research by the Higher Education Careers Service Unit.

Hecsu analysed the destinations of 256,350 new graduates six months after they left university.

Around 7.3% were unemployed in January 2014, down from 8.5% in January 2013 and the lowest level since 2008.

The figures, published jointly with the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, suggest 70% of new graduates were in employment by January 2014.

The figures also suggest more graduates were in professional and managerial work - 66.3% of new graduates, compared with 64.9% the previous year.

Fewer were working as retail, catering, waiting and bar staff - down to 13% of the total from 13.7% the previous year.

Hecsu’s Charlie Ball, the deputy director of research said students should “bear this in mind when deciding which subject to study”.

According to the BBC he said: “There are significant increases in employment across all sectors and the turn in fortune is spreading beyond the South East with graduates in cities such as Birmingham and Manchester doing particularly well.

“If you are located away from the major cities and are yet to feel the upturn, there’s a good chance it will reach you in the months to come, assuming there are no further shocks to the economy - although there are no absolute guarantees.”

The report says that new graduates are likely to “bounce around or can’t find what they are after immediately”.

The researchers have also suggested that better employment prospects have resulted in fewer graduates in further study, with 12.4% carrying on compared to 13% previously.

Of the rest, 5.6% were combining work and study, leaving 7.3% unemployed and 4.7% listed as “other”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .