GRADUATE unemployment is at its lowest level since 1989. In 1994, 51 per cent of primary degree holders gained employment after graduating, compared to 45 per cent in 1993, and 39 per cent of sub degree holders entered employment, an increase of three per cent on 1993 figures.

Among primary degree holders, 41 per cent went onto further study, compared to 51 per cent of sub degree holders (see table page 6). Overall, only four per cent of 1994 primary degree holders and five per cent of sub degree holders were still seeking employment in April 1995, again a drop on 1993 figures.

Many students continue to opt for postgraduate study or further training - 40 per cent of HEA respondents were in this category last year - but generally they do so not because of a lack of other opportunities but because of a conscious decision to enhance or develop particular skills or qualifications.

Interestingly, there has also been an increase in those seeking employment abroad, with the UK proving more popular than any other European country (over 50 per cent of all 1994 graduates working abroad were based in the UK).

Paradoxically, this is an indication of an improvement in the employment situation, both abroad and in Ireland. As Nicholas Leonard, head of UCC's careers service, told E&L earlier this year: "When things are bad, people stay at home, but when things are good, even in Ireland, people go abroad".