Although the worst economic downturn since The Great Depression, also now known as The Great Recession, ended in June 2009, the United States, California and San Diego are still suffering.

According to an article in “Economic Ledger” published last July, San Diego led California into the recession in 2007 and because of this suffered the worst. However, the city will fare better this year in some aspects than the rest of the state. It is predicted the economic momentum of San Diego will be greater than the state as a whole but will lag behind the nation.

According to the 2011 “San Diego Commercial Real Estate Forecast” from Cassidy Turley, the unemployment situation is the same. The predicted unemployment rate for the middle of this year is 9.2 percent for the nation, 12 percent for California and 10.2 percent for San Diego. Gross regional and domestic product will follow the same pattern.

Part of the reason San Diego is faring better than the rest of the state can be attributed to stimulus related spending in military and defense, education, institutional offerings and research and development driven industries, including communication, energy and biotechnology.  The city additionally leads Southern California in taxable sales for 2010.

All of this certainly does not mean San Diego is fully recovered or close to it. Low housing and labor markets along with a lack of private investing and personal spending are only allowing the city to crawl toward recovery. Although the city’s Gross Rating

Point is higher than the state, it only increased 2 to 3 percent last year and it needs to improve at least 5 percent to really decrease unemployment.

Those expecting to graduate this spring may have a daunting feeling about their future in San Diego and California. However, Director of Career Services James Tarbox has definite hope and sound advice for fourth and fifth year seniors. He said many students grow discouraged when they hear about high unemployment rates and a weak economy, but what they don’t realize is by being a college student, if they use the system right, the state of the economy will not affect them as much when trying to geta job.

“If you’re a (near) college graduate and you do things like go to career fairs and on campus interviews, your chances of getting a job are pretty strong,” Tarbox said. “Most employers at these career fairs will interview anyone. They are interested in finding great talent, not just a candidate in a particular major.”

Tarbox admitted the economic indicators for this year are mixed and that when unemployment rates increase into double digits people will have problems, but he feels students can avoid this.

“If all things remain the same I think we’ll have a slightly better job market for 2011 graduates than 2010, but the need to be prepared is still huge for students,” Tarbox said. “They need to come in and meet a counselor and come up with plan, because it takes a while to get a job in our economy.”