Last week we reported that according to a recent survey a whopping nine out of ten Americans aren’t expecting a pay raise next year. But apparently there is one group who is bucking the trend and pocketing more pay despite the faltering recovery, and it’s not who you’d suspect.

Sure, executives are getting a massive pay increase but, more surprisingly, so are students, says the National Association of Colleges and Employers. NACE has just completed its quarterly calculations and discovered that contrary to the prevailing economic gloom (and plenty of evidence that many graduates are still struggling), starting pay for those that did manage to get a job actually rose 4.8 percent.

After a decrease in 2010, salaries were on the rise through 2011, with the average starting salary increasing to $51,018 from $48,661 at this time last year, NACE revealed. How much grads gained was very much dependent on their majors, however. So which subjects saw the biggest gains? Salaries for,

Chemical engineering majors didn’t rise. Their average offer remains $65,617 Civil engineering majors increased less than 1 percent to $52,069 Accounting majors increased 2 percent to $49,671 Business administration increased 2.2 percent to $44,825 Electrical engineering majors increased of 2.8 to $61,021 Mechanical engineering majors increased 3.2 percent to $60,345 Finance majors increased 4 percent to $52,351 Computer science majors increased 4.3 percent to $62,328 Economics majors increased 6 percent to $53,906 English majors increased 6.6 percent to $39,611 Computer engineering majors increased 7.6 percent to $64,499 Petroleum engineering majors increased 8.1 percent to $80,849 History majors increased 8.1 percent to $40,051

Increases aside, by all accounts the job market for grads remains brutal and youth unemployment is far higher than the national average. Still, for those facing one of the toughest job markets in decades, any cause for optimism is sure to be appreciated.

5 College Majors With the Best ROI Class of 2011, Meet Your Competition Need Innovation? Hire Humanities Grads

  Tag: Accounting jobs | Banking jobs | Manufacturing jobs | Life Sciences jobs | Human Resources jobs | hr jobs | marketing jobs | Procurement jobs | Supply Chain jobs | Secretarial jobs | Office Support jobs | Risk Management jobs | Chemical jobs | Process jobs | Electronic jobs | Environmental jobs | Quality jobs | Quality Assurance jobs | Compliance jobs | Training jobs | IT Management jobs | Programming jobs | Systems Administration jobs | Brand Management jobs | Product Management jobs | Market Research jobs | Commercial jobs | Contract jobs | Planning jobs | Construction Management jobs | Real Estate jobs | Pharmaceutical jobs |