"It's not a healthy economy, and folks do struggle paycheck to paycheck," said Smith, who graduated in 1990 from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in literature and theater. He worries about providing for his 11-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter.
Smith's sour opinion of the economy might seem unusual, given that gross domestic product has averaged a solid 3.8% growth in the last three years, including a 5.6% spurt in the first quarter of 2006. Unemployment remains low, 4.6%.
But Smith is far from the only person to take a dim view amid the upbeat statistics. In an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released July 14, 60% of respondents said they disapproved of how Bush was handling the economy.
"The administration is saying the only reason people are not sharing in the recovery is they don't have the right skills," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute. But if college graduates are not doing well, Mishel said, "what does that say?"
Hess, the recent graduate living in San Francisco, said he was not surprised that the president had a low approval rating on economic policy, "if my job is any reflection of what people are experiencing."
Bush's advisors say graduates are earning less because their ranks are swelling and they face tougher competition for better-paying jobs.
But the advisors say it is a good sign that productivity is increasing, because a rise in wages tends to follow.
"Whether or not new college graduates are making more than they were five years ago, we do know the same people will be making more five years from now," said White House spokesman Ken Lisaius.
Not all college graduates are faring poorly. Starting pay is up for business administration, marketing and accounting majors, but down for humanities majors, according to the National Assn. of Colleges and Employers. Compared with 2005, starting salaries for accounting majors rose 5.5% this year, whereas those for English majors declined 4.1%.
However, some economists say wage stagnation could become a permanent fixture for most people with four-year degrees.
Harvard University economist Richard Freeman gained fame for his 1976 book "The Overeducated American," in which he detailed the previous erosion of college graduates' wages. Today, he believes college-educated workers will continue to see their wages erode because of the increasing globalization of the labor market.
