In other words, the average lit major spent 50% more time unemployed than the average engineering major. That actually shows that field of study does make a major difference, even when times are hard for both.
My point may have been a bit subtle. The argument is not about absolute levels (no one would dispute that techies have better employment outcomes than fuzzies, both in getting a job and compensation).
People are claiming that recent youth unemployment is due to bad choice of major: the argument seems to go that, as technology is introducing serious economic disruption, people who get humanities degrees are disproportionately left at a significant market disadvantage, which is causing the recent uptick in college graduate unemployment. This, however, doesn't account for the actual historical data, as engineering and literature majors show similar relative employment rates as in 2001.
This is misleading because it doesn't factor in desire for work, pay, or even hours etc.
If I get a CS degree then make 100k a year for 2 years, then quit because I want to take a 6 month vacation and then go run my own startup that looks on average in bulk identical to someone with a "soft" degree working two separate part time jobs for $10 an hour hopping from job to job every year or so with 3 months of unemployment in between.
2009, months worked out of the past 4 months for people with bachelor's degrees Engineering: 3.1 months Literature: 2.7 months Overall: 3.0 months
It's a bit more complicated than people getting worthless degrees in underwater basket weaving.