Job search woes for college grads.

• Position: Labor Market

For the first time since the 2000-01 academic year, the National Association of Colleges and Employers predicts a 13% increase forecast in hiring new college graduates. However, there will be fiercer competition than ever seen for those jobs, according to John Challenger, CEO of the international outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., Chicago.

"Including active and passive job seekers, there are 3,200,000 people between 20 and 24 who could compete for jobs with this year's [1,300,000] graduates, many of whom have yet to take the first step toward post-college employment," notes Challenger. Further competition could come from the nation's stay-at-home parents, who could decide at any given moment to return to the workforce. In 2002, the latest year for which data from Bureau of Labor Statistics is available, there were 4,900,000 married-couple families with children under six that had just one working parent. There were another 4,100,000 one-income families with children between six and 17.

"Once children reach six and become full-time students, the odds of the stay-at-home parent reentering the job market--even if seeking only part-time employment--greatly increase," points out Challenger. "While the person might have previous experience, he or she, especially if still relatively young, may compete for the same positions being sought by new college...