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The slowing labor market is posing a challenge to recent college graduates looking to begin their careers, with many new graduates finding work in Southern cities.
A study by ADP using anonymized data to compare the 53 largest metro areas in the U.S. based on hiring, wages and affordability for workers in their 20s with college degrees.
It found that Birmingham, Alabama, and Tampa, Florida, were at the top of the list of destinations for fresh graduates embarking on careers. Birmingham was in the 85th or higher percentile in wages, affordability and hiring, while Tampa was buoyed by topping the rankings in hiring despite middling scores for wages and affordability.
Those cities were followed by San Jose, California, and Columbus, Ohio, in the rankings.
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Four other cities in the top 10 were also located in the South, including Raleigh, North Carolina; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Two large metro areas rounded out the top 10, with San Francisco and New York City ranking seventh and tenth, respectively.
A report by The Wall Street Journal about the ADP study’s findings noted that the analysis suggests an emerging recovery in hiring for college graduates is playing out unevenly around the country.
The Journal noted that both Columbus and San Jose unexpectedly rose in the rankings this year despite some components of their overall ranking being less consistent, as San Jose ranked in the 12th percentile of metro areas in terms of affordability and Columbus was in the 50th percentile for earnings.
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Several prominent metro areas lost ground in their overall rankings, such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Baltimore, Maryland; and Austin, Texas, were in the top five of the rankings last year but fell below their peers this year.
Austin was in the 94th percentile a year ago but fell to 77th, while Baltimore also dropped from the 96th percentile to the 75th.
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The biggest risers in the report from last year included several members of the top 10 list. Tampa jumped from the 54th percentile to the 98th, while San Jose rose from the 76th percentile to the 96th, and Tulsa climbed from the 50th to the 90th percentile.
Fresno, California, was outside the top 10 but made a significant leap in the report from the 22nd percentile to 79th.
