By Garrett Wymer

Employment is making a comeback.

Two-thirds of career counselors at U.S. colleges and universities believe the job market will rebound by 2010, according to a survey recently released by OneWire.com.

The other 33 percent surveyed do not foresee significant improvement until at least 2011, the report said.

The survey comes at a time when unemployment in Kentucky was measured at 11.1 percent in August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Nationwide unemployment for September was at 9.8 percent.

Francene Gilmer, assistant provost for career education at UK and director of the James W. Stuckert Career Center, said she does not believe the turn from trouble is quite in sight.

“I think it will probably be another two years for the market to turn around and for jobs to be more readily available,” Gilmer said.

One problem graduates encounter is competition for the same jobs with workers who have been laid off, Gilmer said.

“When I look at the state of Kentucky, I see that our state unemployment is something that needs to be attended to,” she said.  “It’s high. What are we going to do about it?

James S. Fackler, a professor in the economics department in the Gatton College of Business and Economics, said signs of job market recovery are unlikely to be seen until the second half of 2010.

Not all students believe their ability to get a job will be greatly affected.  Josh Stamper, a biology junior studying to become a dentist, said his chosen field is in desperate need of workers.

“I think it’s part of the process,” Stamper said.  “Things have to go down for them to go back up.  There’s a history of that—it follows the same pattern.”