Of the 400,000 graduates in the United Kingdom in 1998, more than 200,000 had first degrees and the others had undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications. More than one in three graduates had already undertaken paid work while still in school (primarily in the service sector). The demand for graduates among the traditional recruiters and reports of recruitment difficulties have increased steadily over the past few years. Although starting salaries offered by recruiters have grown fast, in the longer term they have simply tracked changes in average earnings in the work force. Vacancies among the major recruiters were largely bounding back from the low point of the last recession and were not much higher than in the late 1980s. Many graduates are taking more than 1 year (and sometimes up to 3 years) to find their way into permanent jobs and careers. Those graduating in medicine and related subjects, education, computer science, engineering, and mathematics have moved into high-level jobs the fastest and have enjoyed the lowest unemployment rates. The numbers of graduates are expected to be broadly stable for the next 3 years. Forty-one tables/figures are included. The addresses of 14 data sources are provided. (Contain 53 references.) (MN)