NC State Class of 2019 graduates into strong job market

With the jobless rate at a 50-year low, the next step for new grads is anything they want it to be.

Posted 1:39 a.m. May 12, 2019 — Updated 8:53 p.m. May 12, 2019

Adam Owens

, WRAL anchor/reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — With warm temperatures and rain holding off, Saturday was a delightful day across the Triangle. For the Class of 2019 who graduated from North Carolina State University Saturday morning, the timing worked out just right.

With the jobless rate at a 50-year low, the next step for new grads is anything they want it to be.

Will Brown, a graduate and football player for the Wolfpack said he plans to pursue a master's degree.

Hannah Rich is getting ready to start a job she accepted months ago with a company in Sanford.

"To have something already set up, that's a big deal," she said. "Yeah, I am really excited."

Andrew Henderson is going to take a couple months to figure it all out.

"I have a great sense of peace," he said. "I have accomplished this much. I am sure I can go into the future, and it is wide open. A little scary, a little terrifying – but that is also good."

Mike Walden, an economist at NC State, said the job market will welcome these new grads, no matter what they decide to do.

He pointed to statistics that show 40 percent of graduates end up in work outside of what they studied in college.

And they do not have to go far to find a job.

"If young people are staying in this area – the Research Triangle area of North Carolina – even better," Walden said. "We have a lower unemployment rate, we have a faster growing economy. A lot of people say we are the 'it' economy. This is the place to be."

Walden said careers in analytical jobs like financial management and accounting are hot. Graphic design also recently made the list.

"Pretty much all of my friends also have jobs as well, so we are doing pretty good as a class," Rich said.

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