Nearly one in 11 graduates are unemployed¹ six months after leaving university – the highest proportion for 17 years, a study reveals today.

英国今日发布的一项调查显示，近1/11的大学毕业生在离校六个月后还未能就业，达到了17年来的最高比例。

Rising numbers are taking jobs that do not require degrees, including as waiters and checkout² workers, the survey of almost 225,000 graduates shows.

The poll, by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit charity, covered 82% of those who completed an undergraduate degree last summer and live in the UK. The pollsters（民意调查人） interviewed the graduates in January – six months after they left university. It comes as ministers plan to substantially increase the amount graduates pay for their degrees.

The study found 8.9% of graduates, or just over 21,000, were out of a job after six months, a one percentage point rise on the previous year.

The proportion of university leavers with a graduate-level job – as defined by the government – has dropped 3.3 points to 62.4%, the charity found. The proportion working in retail³ and catering⁴（餐饮，给养） rose by 3.8 points to 14.4% – about one in seven.

The mean starting salary for graduates has not kept pace with inflation and is now £19,695 – an £18 rise on last year, the survey found. Those who had studied Chinese had the highest starting salary at £24,540 a year, while fine art graduates started on the lowest wage at £14,625.

Some 59.2% of the graduates were employed, compared with 61.4% the previous year. Some 15.4% were studying or in training, up from 14.1%. A further 8% were taking postgraduate⁵ degrees, down 0.1%.

The public sector⁶ is one of "very few" areas that has continued to recruit（招募） graduates in the recession, the charity said, fuelling fears as the sector prepares to shed hundreds of thousands of roles.

The government describes engineering degrees as "strategically important" for the economy. But 11.9% of civil engineering graduates were out of work six months after they graduated, as were 11.8% of mechanical engineering graduates. Geography and psychology⁷ graduates were least likely to be unemployed. Some 7.4% and 8.3% were out of a job respectively.

Charlie Ball, the charity's deputy research director, said he expected employment rates to rise, but added: "With the anticipated public sector job cuts, the future in the medium-term looks less clear. It depends on what the government does and how the private sector reacts. This will determine things for graduates for the next three to four years."