To: ChanceIs who wrote (219445 ) 9/9/2009 9:33:31 AM From: ChanceIs Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 306849 Recent College Grads Suffer Hits to Salary >>>"Employers expect to cut (2010) college-graduate hiring by 7%" That will go a long way to bolster SS revenues and the starter housing market.<<< By SARA MURRAY Haunted by fewer job offers this season, recent graduates with jobs took a hit to their salaries, the National Association of Colleges and Employers said Tuesday. Those who graduated with bachelor's degrees in 2009 received a $48,633 average starting salary offer, down 1.2% from last year, according to a survey of 140 college and university career-services offices. It is a stark change from 2008, when the average starting salary was 7.6% higher than those offered to the class of 2007. Engineering and computer-science graduates fared the best in 2009 and saw increases in their average starting salaries. Average offers fell among business and liberal-arts graduates. The drop in 2009 is due, in large part, to the scarcity of offers for new graduates, which forces down starting salaries. Survey respondents reported 20% fewer offers in September 2009 compared with the same time last year. The wage cuts add to evidence that demand for recent college graduates has been hard-hit during the recession, spurring consequences that may last for more than a decade. Young people tend to be a particularly vulnerable demographic in economic downturns and are often the first to be laid off or are competing against laid-off workers with years of job experience. A preview of 2010 shows next year's graduates may face similar hardships. Employers expect to cut college-graduate hiring by 7%, a separate survey of 219 NACE employer members showed.