State economist

Phil Pepper made clear the difficulty recent high school graduates face if they are looking for a job this summer. A report released Tuesday quoted Pepper as saying, &uot;Things are picking up, but it’s a slow, slow recovery.&uot;

Many thousands of recent graduates around Mississippi hope to get work this summer, some of them to help pay for college in the fall; others, to work permanently. In the Natchez area, as throughout the state, jobs for these young people are in short supply. The situation is the same in Louisiana.

For the new graduates heading to college, the summer work news may not be as dire as it is for the second group, those who hope to get a job and perhaps climb the ladder at a company or government entity.

To those, here is some advice: Look into enrolling at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Natchez for the fall term. And to Concordia Parish graduates: Find out how to take classes at Louisiana Technical College in Ferriday if you don’t plan to enter a four-year institution in the fall.

There was a time a couple of generations ago that a high school graduate might have good reason to think he or she could start work at age 18 and grow with a company. Such success stories were not unusual in the past. That is not true today.

As Mark Musick, president of the Southern Regional Education Board, said in the same report on Tuesday, &uot;If you come (to a job) with only a high school diploma, you will hit the glass ceiling pretty soon.&uot;

Community and technical colleges provide excellent opportunities in the kinds of fields where job openings traditionally occur. Graduates, take the step. It will be one that could have life-long implications.