Academic

City By City Unemployment Rates

By Dan Filler

File this under: we like knowing what's going on in the world, but in greater detail than everyone else.  Each month we get the new unemployment statistics and one thing is consistent: unemployment rates are on the rise.  But we also know that these rates aren't smooth and consistent from one community to the next.  How do you find out a little more detail without having to do research on your own?  Visit Christopher Uggen's blog here; he lists the 372 metropolitan areas in America in descending order of unemployment rate.  Overall, the national rate is 9%.

Here are some snapshots.  El Centro, California has a 25% unemployment rate while Merced, California (celebrating the first graduating class of UC Merced) is weighed down by a 20% rate.  California is really hurting; it has eleven metro areas with higher unemployment rates than Flint, Michigan.  Two of the three metro areas with the lowest unemployment rates are in Iowa: Ames, at 3.7 percent and Iowa City at 3.6 percent.  In general, college towns are doing pretty well.  Life might be getting complicated for universities these days, but as corporations go - we've got a pretty good safety net. 

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on May 11, 2009 (boomark / email).