10 job market trends college grads need to know

This is a scary time for college students getting ready to graduate into a miserable job market, but employment prospects won't be as bad for lucky grads who happen to possess in-demand college majors or degrees, and who live in the right regions.

Hiring of college graduates is expected to increase 4 percent across all degree levels, according to a survey of more than 3,300 employers. The survey, which is the largest of its kind, has been conducted annually for 41 years by Michigan State University.

The job market for college grads appears to be broader, deeper and more stable than last year, according to Phil Gardner, the director of MSU's Collegiate Employment Research Institute.

"It looks like this year's market is going to have legs," Gardner says. "Last year it didn't have legs. We saw some aggressive growth early on but then it disappeared."

Hiring Prospects for College Graduates

Here are the highlights of MSU's Recruiting Trends 2011-2012 report:

1. 42 percent of employees who were surveyed said they intend to hire, which is the highest percentage increase since 2007 when it was 47 percent.

2. Hiring of grads with bachelor's degrees is expected to increase 7 percent. Grads with MBAs can look forward to a 6.4 percent boost in hiring, while jobseekers with PhDs should enjoy the biggest jump in hiring at 12 percent. In contrast, master's degree hiring is expected to decline by 1 percent.

3. Hiring of college grads will increase in all regions except the Northwest. The South will experience double-digit growth, as will the Great Lakes region.

4. Employers of various sizes plan to increase hiring, except for mid-sized companies that employ between 500 and 3,999 workers.

5. Hiring will be strong for college majors such as computer science, accounting, agriculture sciences and agriculture business. Other in-demand degrees will include communications, public relations, marketing, finance and economics.

6. Sectors expected to experience the biggest hiring growth include energy exploration, health care, retail, transportation, scientific research, finance and insurance.

7. Starting salaries have remained steady since 2008 and 77 percent of employers don't expect to increase them in 2012.

8. Employers who are raising salaries for new college hires will boost them an average of 5 percent.

9. Nine percent of employers said salaries will be partially or entirely based on commission.

10. Bonuses will begin to reemerge. After disappearing from the college recruiting scene four years ago, 5 percent of employers now say they expect to offer signing bonuses.