BY JOHN SOLTES

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

College graduates who majored in architecture or the arts are more likely to find themselves unemployed, according to a new study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, a nonprofit research and policy institute.

Although unemployment levels for job candidates with Bachelor degrees hovers just shy of 9 percent, those who majored in architecture are seeing rates closer to 14 percent. Similarly, non-technical majors in the arts have seen unemployment levels balloon to more than 11 percent.

The new findings still point toward the necessity of earning a college degree. For candidates with only a high school diploma, the unemployment level is almost 23 percent. For high school dropouts, the level increases even more to 31.5 percent.

“Is college still worth it?” the report asks. “A major conclusion of the new report is that it all depends on your major. … Not all degrees are created equal.”

Recent college graduates who have secured employment are earning anywhere from $55,000 (engineering majors) to $30,000 (arts, psychology and social work majors).

One reason for the high architecture unemployment rate is likely the economic recession and substantial decrease in new construction.

Conversely, the best industries for jobs deal with math and computing. Those specialists who can write software have a better-than-expected unemployment rate of 6 percent. Those industries who use software, such as data miners, don’t fare as well. Recent college graduates in that market are seeing 11.2 percent unemployment rates.

Any majors tied to the healthcare industry also produce employable candidates, with rates as low as 5.4 percent.

The report also suggests that earning a graduate degree could help eventual employment, although it will almost certainly add to one’s school debt.

“The overall unemployment rate for people with graduate degrees is just 3 percent,” the study finds. “Workers with graduate degrees average between $60,000 and $100,000 per year.”

Data for the study was taken from 2009 and 2010.