Employment Outlook

College graduates see pay drop 7.6% in last six years, report says - Shan Li

Between 2000 and 2012, the wages of fresh college grads dropped 8.5%, a roughly $3,200 decline for full-time workers. In the last six years alone, their pay fell 7.6%, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute.

Last year, college grads earned an average $16.60 an hour -- about $34,500 a year.

“The wages of young graduates fared poorly even before the Great Recession began,” the report said. “They saw no growth over the entire period of general wage stagnation that began during the business cycle of 2000-2007.”