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I picked a few that are often mentioned in our forum
Raleigh 6.1% (April 2013)
Washington D.C. 8.5% (May 2013)
Arlington VA 3.1% (April 2013)
Portland OR 6.9% (April 2013)
Denver CO 7.3% (April 2013)
Los Angeles 10.3% (April 2013)
NYC 8.3% (April 2013)
Austin TX 4.3% (April 2013)
Atlanta GA 9.6% (April 2013).
Austin it is, unless you can afford NOVA.
See those are cities, I mentioned comparing metropolitan areas. Arlington VA and Washington DC would need to be combined into one number (as well as a lot of other cities around the DC area with good unemployment numbers).
Think about what if we said the unemployment rate in Cary was 6% but in Fuquay it was 12%. Who cares if they can commute to Cary easily enough right?
Now whether or not unemployment numbers for metro areas are readily available in a search, I'll leave that research project to someone else. It's just that we usually see these numbers quoted by county or city and I don't think they are particularly meaningful.
See those are cities, I mentioned comparing metropolitan areas. Arlington VA and Washington DC would need to be combined into one number (as well as a lot of other cities around the DC area with good unemployment numbers).
Think about what if we said the unemployment rate in Cary was 6% but in Fuquay it was 12%. Who cares if they can commute to Cary easily enough right?
Now whether or not unemployment numbers for metro areas are readily available in a search, I'll leave that research project to someone else. It's just that we usually see these numbers quoted by county or city and I don't think they are particularly meaningful.
Jobs often are in cities, if you want to do all the math don't forget to include the smaller population of Fuquay when averaging out the area. I am not sure what you are getting at though, I am just pointing out that this area is no worse for jobs than most places in the U.S. Replace the one word in the thread title "Think twice if you are considering moving to Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill area of N.C." with most of the cities I just posted and it would be true(er). Durham is at 6.1% and Chapel Hill is at 4.9%... just sayin.
Jobs often are in cities, if you want to do all the math don't forget to include the smaller population of Fuquay when averaging out the area. I am not sure what you are getting at though, I am just pointing out that this area is no worse for jobs than most places in the U.S. Replace the one word in the thread title "Think twice if you are considering moving to Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill area of N.C." with most of the cities I just posted and it would be true(er). Durham is at 6.1% and Chapel Hill is at 4.9%... just sayin.
I am saying that in order to come up with any remotely meaningful numbers, you'd have to measure the unemployment for a metropolitan area. Would it be useful or productive to have conversations about the unemployment rate of Raleigh versus the unemployment rate of Wake Forest? People who live in Wake Forest commute to Raleigh to work in droves. Especially when we are in a C-D forum that refers to the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area of N.C., we have to understand that folks considering the area could probably care less if Durham's unemployment rate is dramatically different than Raleigh's. They want to know what the job situation is like within a reasonable commute range.
It's irrelevant that that cities are where the jobs are, because THE PEOPLE who occupy the jobs can come from the city itself or surrounding cities/towns. Last time I checked, the way unemployment in a given city is measured is how many residents of that city have applied for unemployment benefits versus the total population of the city. What about the jobs in the city that are occupied by influx from surrounding cities? Even using the CPS method (an alternative method of calculating unemployment that the Bureau of Labor Statistics also uses), the numbers are pretty meaningless unless you combine all of the numbers from the cities and towns that constitute a "metropolitan area", and come up with some mechanism for weighted averaging that paints a clear picture.
The example you gave of the stark difference between Arlington, VA's unemployment rate and the rate in Washington, DC proper should serve as a pretty good example, the two places are about 5 miles away, yet the unemployment rate of one is about 275% of the unemployment rate of the other. Does that not tell you everything you need to know about how useless it is to talk about the unemployment rates of an individual city or county?
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,788 posts, read 15,906,830 times
Reputation: 10917
Quote:
Originally Posted by boardmember10000
The argument that someone has a masters degree and a $16 a hour job is below them, well that indicates they don't need to work to survive, and while yes they technically have stopped looking, there is a job for them if they want it. A degree doesn't equal a well paying job despite what's been sold to us for the past 50 years.
I never said a $16 per hour job was beneath me! I said my husband hires people for $16 per hour, which is a very low rate in my opinon. He wasn't hiring me! I also said that I applied for a job and wasn't even granted an interview. There was never "a job for me if I want it."
The point of my post, which you apparently missed, and it was partially directed at NoVASpaceMan because he is looking in this area from NoVA, was that it was very easy for me to find a position in NoVA, while it has been much harder here. And even the potential jobs that I find (which I have not been hired for) have pretty low pay. That it has made it not worth looking for. And yes, we are fortunate that I don't "have" to work (but I'd like to), as we made a killing on our NoVA house that we sold.
I never said a $16 per hour job was beneath me! I said my husband hires people for $16 per hour, which is a very low rate in my opinon. He wasn't hiring me! I also said that I applied for a job and wasn't even granted an interview. There was never "a job for me if I want it."
The point of my post, which you apparently missed, and it was paritally directed at NoVASpaceMan because he is looking in this area from NoVA, was that it was very easy for me to find a position in NoVA, while it has been much harder here. And even the potential jobs that I find (which I have not been hired for) have pretty low pay. That it has made it not worth looking for. And yes, we are fortunate that I don't "have" to work (but I'd like to), as we made a killing on our NoVA house that we sold.
Please see my other post, I already posted the employment rate is better in Arlington. What type of work for $16 an hour is low for someone starting out in their career? Certain fields demand a higher starting salary,some do not. It's certainly better than minimum wage, if you would like to work there seems to be jobs hiring at $16 an hour.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,788 posts, read 15,906,830 times
Reputation: 10917
Quote:
Originally Posted by boardmember10000
Please see my other post, I already posted the employment rate is better in Arlington. What type of work for $16 an hour is low for someone starting out in their career? Certain fields demand a higher starting salary,some do not. It's certainly better than minimum wage, if you would like to work there seems to be jobs hiring at $16 an hour.
The work is in insurance underwriting - one must have a college degree (business or similar) and have gotten some insurance licenses already or have some experience in the field. That is not my field, and it's not part-time, which is what I'm looking for, so my husband is not planning on hiring me.
Coming from NoVa, $35K sounds very low to me. I would think a comparable job in NoVA would be $55K-$60K. I made $35K back in the early 90's just a few years out of college with a business degree, and it was just an average job, probably similar to what he's hiring for. I know the cost of living here is less, BUT is it really THAT much less?
Please see my first response in this thread for that.
I am still not sure what you want out of this thread. The OP clearly stated their partner has a job here, your advice - "Never relocate without having an income stream in place for the area you're moving to. Period. It's that simple." and "If you're married or with partner, make sure ONE of you has an income stream".
They met your requirements. Their warning of this area being hard to get a job could be true for most places in the U.S.
I still feel this area is no worse and generally better than most areas of the country when it comes to jobs. I have unemployed and part-time workers in my family and circle of friends but I also have family and friends working in high tech fields. I think the employment situation is not unique to this area, just a reflection of the national economy.
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