Many of the students I know that graduated this last Spring were confident that the market would, at worst, rebound by the end of this year. It's the natural cycle of the economy, they said. An article from the Charlotte Observer, today, reported that graduating students are refusing to take lower-paying jobs than hoped for:

Survey data found that only 45 percent of responding seniors who were offered jobs this year accepted them... “That tells me they haven't quite realized the extent of the market and that they're still waiting for the offer that matches their expectations,” [said Edwin Koc, the director of strategic and foundation research at NACE].

Another study, from Northeastern University, found that fewer than half of the nation's 4 million college graduates were working in jobs that required a college degree, down from 54 percent from last year. Read the article here.