PROVIDENCE – College graduates searching for a job online will have better prospects in Massachusetts than in Rhode Island, according to a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
Using data from the second quarter of 2013, the center looked at job openings posted online for students graduating with bachelor’s degrees and then ranked each state based on how many job openings there are per college-educated worker overall and within industries and career fields.
Massachusetts ranked first and had 94,600 online job ads for college graduates, while Rhode Island ranked 48th – the lowest among the New England states – with 3,900 online job ads for college graduates.
Delaware was second and Washington, third, for the most job openings per college-educated worker. West Viriginia ranked last.
The report said that in Massachusetts, 63 percent of job openings are for college graduates, while in West Virginia, 36 percent of job openings are for college graduates. In Rhode Island, 53 percent of job openings are for college graduates.
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Learn MoreConnecticut ranked 16th and had 28,700 job openings – which represent 53 percent of all job openings – while Maine ranked 31st, with 42 percent of online job ads for college graduates, a total of 6,000. New Hampshire was 40th, and its 7,400 online openings for college graduates were 47 percent of the total. Vermont ranked 44th, where 51 percent of online job ads were for college, a total of 3,300.
Researchers used online job advertisements to find where the jobs are for college graduates in each of the 50 states. Data was controlled to account for the pool of job seekers competing for jobs.
In addition to the overall rankings, the study looked at individual job categories. For example, college graduates seeking work in science, technology, engineering and math fileds have the best chances in New York, Massachusetts and Delaware.
And, college graduates seeking work in the consulting and business services sector should consider Delaware, Ohio and Massachusetts, and avoid Rhode Island, New Mexico and New Hampshire.
“By combining information on online job ads with traditional employment data, we are able to get a more complete picture of job opportunities available to college graduates in each state,” Tamara Jayasundera, the report’s co-author, said in a statement.
Rhode Island’s top three occupational groups, according to the study, are: software developers, followed by all other computer occupations and registered nurses. Citizens Financial Group was the employer with the largest online recruiting presence with 332 ads, followed by Hasbro Inc. with 138.