Congratulations to all the new graduates of 2013! The good news is, you probably won’t be unemployed forever, despite what you may have heard in some of the more hysterical media reports. According to the New York Times, college grads are doing pretty well in this tough economy. College graduates have a lower rate of unemployment — 3.9% vs. the 7.5% for  workforce as a whole.

The not-so-good news?  Your first job might outside your degree field. Or a job that traditionally didn’t even require a degree. The job market has improved from the nadir of the recession, but most of the new jobs are low-skilled work.  From The Times:

There is ample evidence that employers are hiring college-educated workers for jobs that do not actually require college-level skills — positions like receptionists, file clerks, waitresses, car rental agents and so on.

‘High-skilled people can take the jobs of middle-skilled people, and middle-skilled people can take jobs of low-skilled people,’ said Justin Wolfers, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. ‘And low-skilled people are out of luck.’

Starting to regret the time and money you spent on that degree? Don’t — a college degree still pays off in the job market.  You can expect to earn about 80% more than workers without a degree.  So, despite the calibrated expectations and flexibility needed to navigate this job market, your education was still worth the investment.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/business/college-graduates-fare-well-in-jobs-market-even-through-recession.html

Every year, the Office of Personnel Management surveys federal employees to find out how they really feel about their jobs. More than 266,000 workers participated this year, rating their agencies for job satisfaction, as well as in three other categories. Apparently, the disgruntled beuracrat is a myth. No agency had less than 61% job satisfaction.  We were curious to see which agencies reported the highest levels of job satisfaction.

5. Federal Trade Commission

71% of workers at the FTC claim a high level of job satisfaction.

4. Social Security Administration.

All the talk of cutting Social Security hasn’t fazed the workers: 72% of SSA employees rate their agency high on job satisfaction.

3. State Department

Nice to know that 72% of the people responsible for diplomacy portion of national security are very happy with their jobs. The military personnel who wield our weapons a little less satisfied. 69% of Army, Navy & Marine employees report high job satisfaction.

2. NASA

It’s not so surprising that NASA ranks so high when you consider how hard it is to get a job in the Space Program. Of course, not everyone who works at NASA is an astronaut, and across the board, 74% of employees rate are happy working there.

1. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

This is the agency that ensures that we never have to deal with Godzilla, or that three-eyed fish from The Simpsoms. With those kind of weighty concerns, it’s a little surprising that the NRC is #1 for job satisfaction. 77% of the employees love working their.

Check out all the results of the survey at the Washington Post to see how your agency measures up.