The percentage of unemployed new graduates in the UK was 8.6% this year, a marginal change from last year's 8.5%.

BBC: Scotland 'attracting graduates'

In Wales, the number of graduates still unemployed after six months increased from 655 in 2007 to 1, 015 in 2008.

BBC: Graduates returning to education

Forty-one percent of the school's graduates were unemployed and seeking jobs, the data show.

WSJ: Law Grads Face a Brutal Job Market

In February, almost 1.9 million college graduates were unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

CNN: College students look to future with worry, hope

This latest study shows a stable picture - with 62% of recent graduates in employment, 9% unemployed, 14% staying on for further study and the remainder in a mixture of training while working and other activities.

BBC: Graduate jobs market 'better than feared'

Young people have been hit especially hard during the recession, with more than half of recent college graduates unemployed or underemployed.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

However, in the current job market many graduates are unemployed or underemployed and unable to pay their debt, making the benefits of a student loan more speculative.

FORBES: Weaning Ourselves from Economic Steroids - Excess Debt

Recent data from the Census Bureau and Department of Labor found that almost 54% of recent graduates were unemployed or underemployed.

CNN: Do we need a revolution in higher education?

China has so far survived the global economic downturn with hardly any of the agitation many once feared it might cause among unemployed workers or jobless university graduates.

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