Job Forecast Partly Cloudy

Jan. 12, 2001 — -- There have been layoffs, cutbacks and closings. The stock market has sputtered, dot-coms have failed, and the president-elect has talked of a possible recession.

Bad time to look for a job, right? Not necessarily.

"If you had asked me that question in mid-December I would have said yes," says Trudy Steinfeld, director of New York University's Office of Career Services. "But things really seem to have settled down."

Layoffs have hit online workers at The New York Times and Fox News, and offline workers at Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward.

Times remain tense, with experts trying to read conflicting economic and employment statistics. But the government measure of unemployment held at 4.0 percent in December, and anecdotal evidence indicates the trend of an overall strong job market seems to be holding.

Those in the know say if you're a manufacturing worker, particularly an entry-level one, the tough times of the past couple of years will continue, and may get a bit worse. But if you work with computers, in finance or in health services, the coast remains clear — at least for now.

"Anecdotally, everything I'm hearing is still very positive," says Camille Luckenbaugh, employment information manager for the Pennsylvania-based National Association of Colleges and Employers, which gathers data from both college placement offices and businesses and publishes information about college graduates.

"I know there are rumblings of the economy slowing, but anecdotal information that I've received has not led me to any conclusions that college graduates are going to be suffering," Luckenbaugh adds.

At Columbia University, it's "business as usual," with "all the large investment banks banging on our doors to make reservations as to when they can come next fall," says Pat Macken, the university's director of employer relations.

Steinfeld, of NYU, says that despite a scare in December, her office seems to be busier than usual.