Roughly 14 million people were unemployed in October, yet the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2% over the summer, and overall hiring was weak, according to a Federal Reserve survey--Beige Book--released on Wednesday, Nov. 30.

The trend of slow to moderate pace of the economy is barely enough to keep the unemployment rate, which has been hovering above 9% for the past year or so, from reaching double digit.

Expert say in order to have a meaningful impact on the employment situation, the economy needs to grow at twice of the current rate. However, the increasing likelihood of a global recession partly from the raging debt crisis in Europe would certainly pose a serious threat to the already struggling growth and bleak employment outlook.

These days, a college degree and years of experience do not necessary mean a good job like they used to, and competition is fierce for the few available openings. Coping with this New Normal, job seekers are reaching into unconventional and creative avenues to gain a competitive edge in the job jungle. And social media are increasingly becoming the new job fair for people to network, get new job leads or to promote and showcase resumes.

Indeed, Linkedin is the new hangout for corporate as well as agency headhunters, and many corporations have Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. The infographic below, based on a recent survey by Jobvite finds some interesting statistics regarding using social media for job search. For example,

1 in 6 workers use social media to get hired

Almost 90% of job seekers have a profile on a social media site

54% of all job hunters use Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin to find jobs

50% of job seekers used Facebook, 25% used Twitter, and 36% used Linkedin to look for a job in the last 12 months

18.4 million Americans say Facebook got them their current jobs. The numbers for Twitter and Linked in are 10.2 million and 8 million respectively

Of course, this does not mean social media will completely replace the good old want-ad (virtual pr paper) searching and applying, but rather as something to add to the job searching tool bag. Even for the gainfully employed, social media provides an open and easy way to network, being sociably cool and keep you updated on the new technology and social trend.

So it is beneficial for anybody, regardless if you are looking for a job, to be on at least one of the major social media site (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin). After all, social media mobilized Arab Spring, and in today's modern world, one either embraces the new wave, or gets left behind.

This post first appeared at EconMatters.