Geography of Unemployment

I published a the following comment on a New York Times article that discussed how unemployment varies from state to state.

What about the state-by-state gap? How many of those in the hardest hit states are aware of which states & metros are fairing the best? How many would be willing to move to North Dakota?

Obviously some are stuck in their homes, but I live in an area hit by manufacturing losses & while Logan County, IL’s population is likely declining, even most renters & roommates aren’t looking out of state. The few that look for work outside of Logan County look to a neighboring county. The only person I’ve met who moved, moved in with his parents in Kankakee, an area far worse off. For years, I’ve known about the low unemployment in North Dakota & DC metro region & have mentioned it to a few people last winter, all single, all 18-30, none of them home owners, none have moved, & all of them either not working or making less than $10/hour. It appears to me that the safety nets, either governmental or through family & friends are strong enough, most people don’t want to trade that in the life they know, for a job in an unfamiliar place.

I’m a 27 year old CPA, lost my job in early May, & after two months of unemployment & having been overqualified for every job I’ve had since June 2004, I’ve largely given up finding work in central Illinois & recently began applying for work outside central Illinois, even though my house is paid off & unemployment is more than enough to live on. I’m not happy about it. I understand the resistance of others, including renters & couch-surfers. There is a severe downside to leaving. I’m just unusually career-minded. Although some cities are so expensive, I have to increase my pay requirements for any position there.

I saw an article in Business Week that addressed geographic mismatches (Google: Business Week Help Wanted) & I found it interesting that in the comments section many people wrote that they wouldn’t be willing to move for a job because jobs aren’t secure enough today. Perhaps it’s reasonable for people in hard hit areas to stay. There may be jobs in Bismarck, but it may not come with a substantial increase in standard of living, even for the unemployed, certainly not for unskilled workers & without job security what sense does it make to leave everyone a person knows for an unfamiliar city?

In addition, many places have cost-of-living issues. Back, when people would use the phrase “jobs Americans won’t do,” I knew lots of people who wanted those jobs, but weren’t going to move to somewhere urban & expensive in order to do those jobs. Even now, I can’t see why a less-skilled unemployed person in the Rust Belt would move to an expensive city like DC for a job, even though DC has a better than average job market. In spite of working, his or her standard of living would likely decline. Something needs to be done about the local housing & development regulations that keep people out.

One person replied to my comment by stating: "One winter in Bismarck will make you regret that move, Ken. Job or no job."-MM

State by state map showing broad unemployment across the country

County by County map showing unemployment across the country

Unemployed & Uncertain

I am a frustrated 27 year old white male. Why? I am a single Certified Public Accountant who cannot find work within an hour of where I live one would expect for someone with a bachelor's in accounting.

First career. I live in a small town in central Illinois, near 5 small metros. I passed the CPA Exam last November. I have been overqualified for each position I have had since May 2004. I lasted 5 months in that position. It was a state government position & lost it because the management felt I was too introverted to represent the agency. On May 6, I lost my job. It was scheduled to be a two-month temporary position reconciling invoice payment postings to bank deposits, but lasted 11 months. The company had decided to make it a full-time position. I believe the reason they did not hire me full-time was due to the fact that when I was first asked about my career goals I spoke of long term goals, such as starting my own accounting firm or some other way to make my career path more like a typical CPA. This position did not request a college degree, paid 15/hour, & months earlier reached the point of being so easy it’s boring. I found out I lost my job by phone call on my commute home from work. I now find myself unemployed & looking for a new position. I am on the verge of giving of hope of having a typical CPA career path in central Illinois. I have used Google & contacted the AICPA trying to find where CPAs are most in demand without a satisfactory answer.

Second personal. I feel rooted. I do not want to leave the area, but also feel career interests may force me out. I prefer smaller cities, such as the 5 metros in central Illinois. Since leaving college, I have lived in two other cities, each time failing to establish a social life. The failure to establish a social life twice, combined with success having a social circle in my hometown may be the primary force behind why I feel rooted. Childhood friends are the linchpin of my associations in my social circles. Also, I am unwillingly single. This singles map gives me a hesitation about moving to Peoria & Champaign, Illinois, I didn’t previously have, though still optimistic about Springfield, Illinois. It does make me optimistic about St. Louis except the job postings appear no scant in St. Louis. A move to St. Louis would be 130 miles from home, enough to leave me seeing far less of friends & my mother. I have been to Chicago several times & do not like it. Chicago has a certain blandness to me, crowded, and awful traffic & congestion.

Right now, most of my thoughts of leaving central Illinois focus on St. Louis for its proximity to central Illinois & cost of living and Washington, DC for its low unemployment rates & much higher level of job postings for accountants, even though I don’t know if I can tolerate a city with such terrible traffic & congestion. I am still interested in finding alternatives.

Why I decided to run for Alderman

What initially got me thinking about running had to do with how many people felt deceived after Sysco came to town. Back when Sysco came to Lincoln, we were told the jobs Sysco would bring would average $40,000 per year. When Sysco arrived, most of the jobs paid significantly less than $40,000 per year resulting in many people in Lincoln felt deceived. To this day, no one has publicly explained why there was a difference. My suspicion is that the difference was simply a matter of the difference between an average & a median. A median is the middle point, what most people think of when they hear the word average. An average actually means something different. I don't expect all local officials to catch it, but the difference between an average & a median is basic enough, hearing no one catch it left me wonder about the level of financial understanding among our local officials.

I think there are reasons the Council is 10 persons & not one person. I think the idea is to bring people from all over town with their skills, abilities, & perspectives. I believe it would be a benefit to the City to have the Council include someone with expertise on money, which I have. The easiest evidence I have of my expertise is that I am Licensed Certified Public Accountant.

Late last year, I attended some City Council meetings. First, I want to say that I came out of those meetings with a very positive perspective on those at City Council meetings as people. However, I did see a couple of matters that indicated room for improvement with the understanding of money present at these meetings.

The first involved lawn mowing at Postville Court House. The State was having someone drive here from New Salem to mow the lawn at various State Historic Sites. What struck me was that if the State contracted out individual sites, someone from here could mow the lawn at Postville Court House & get the income that comes with it.

The second matter involved the purchase of two police vehicles. There are multiple viable police cars used around the country. The City took bids on the make & model they wanted, got one bid, & decided to purchase from the one bid. In the process, the City took a misstep by deciding which vehicle it was buying without seeking offers for the viable alternatives. I have no complaint with the particular vehicle purchased, but the method of stating to auto dealers which vehicle they are purchasing before getting prices is not the best way to handle our money.

I am running to bring financial expertise to the City Council & vow to display care with City money, which is our money. I plan to work with the other persons involved in City Council to help achieve the best results for the City.

Incompetence - It's Comcastic

I recently decided to get the Internet. Where I live Comcast has a monopoly on broadband, so I had to go with them. I called 888-4-BEST-TV & ordered broadband Internet. I was told I had to pay by cash or credit card when the technician arrived at my house on July 3.

I had to work so I left a credit card with my mom & she was at the house when the technician arrived. She gave the technician the credit card. He told her that payment had to be by cash or check, no credit cards. I called Comcast (800-COMCAST) later that day after I found out what happened & was told that installation would occur on July 5. In addition, I was given a $25 credit for my trouble & was assured my billing period would begin on the actual installation date.

Around 1PM on July 5, I called Comcast just to make sure they were still coming. I was told they were still coming & may arrive anytime before 8PM. As a result, I stayed home all day. Around 7PM, a friend of mine called, just to make sure they were still coming. The Comcast representative then told him that no technician was going to arrive & they had changed the installation date to July 7. My friend asked if they could give me a something for my trouble & the representative offered another $25 credit, which I accepted.

On July 7, I paid by phone just to make sure that no problems would occur & all went smoothly.

When I got my bill dated July 26, I noticed that the credit had not been applied & the billing date was still slated as the 3^rd of the month. So, I called Comcast again. The representative said he noticed the credits & applied the credits to my account. In addition, he gave me a smaller credit to make up for the four days that I was being billed, where I should not be.

I checked the Comcast website, earlier today August 9, & did not see any mention of the credit, so I called Comcast again. This time I was told the credits were denied on July 15, since the problems related to me not having my COD on July 3.

Can they get any worse? I hate having to deal with this monopoly. I just want the deal Comcast & I agreed to.

UPDATE: The next time I called Comcast I was told that the July 3 $25 credit had been applied to my first bill. I checked and there was a $25 credit dated July 2. I guessed I missed it because 888-4-BEST-TV told me my first bill was going to be in the $60s & it was in the $60s. Comcast said the difference was that my first bill was supposed to be in $80s. In regards to the July 5 credit, it eventually was applied. The time they finally applied the July 5 credit to my bill was at least the fifth time I had been told it would appear on my next bill.

A Letter to the Editor from October 2006

Dear Readers of The Courier,

Many people in Lincoln complain about lots such as The Mill which are going unused. The City of Lincoln tried to solve this problem by selling The Mill to the highest bidder and the bidder has done nothing about the condition of The Mill. However, other communities have found a better way to deal with blight such as this.

The state of Kansas has a program whereby communities can give away free lots to people who are willing to build a house and live on the lot. Several rural communities in Kansas are taking advantage of this program. The program has a website where any can see some of the lots available and our city, county, and village leaders can gain a better understanding of what is being done. The website is www.kansasfreeland.com. Each community can choose to put restrictions on the people who become owners of the land. Most seem to have restrictions such as a contract to build the house must be established with a developer within 6 months, the new owner must move into the house within a year of signing the contract and the house cannot be a manufactured or mobile home. Some communities also have programs for businesses to become owners of free land as long as the business develops the land.

If the communities of Logan and Mason County had a similar program we could ensure that the new owners of our blighted lots could not simply let the condemned building sit the way the owner of The Mill has. In addition, it would make moving to or staying in Logan and Mason County more attractive by making it more affordable for businesses and for families.

Homestead Act

Can someone please explain to me the logic of repealing the Homestead Act? There still is open land in this country that people could occupy and it could give people the change to repopulate somewhere like Detroit with too much vacant land and the Great Plains that are emptying out.

Creating a Congress that better represents the people

To become or remain a member of the House of Representative you have to win an election in your district. The fact that the people are left with only two choices, the preferred candidate of the two major parties, is bad enough, but in most Congressional districts the people are left with a wide open field of one serious candidate. This is because the districts are drawn in ways intended to ensure that the same party wins every time, hence the person in power gets to draw up districts that are sure to keep them in power as long as they would like to remain in power. However, there is an alternative. In Iowa and Arizona, the border lines of Congressional districts are drawn up using neutral mapmaking rules. This has created a system where a disproportionate number of the competitive Congressional districts are in these two states. If we had this nationwide Congressmen would have to worry about doing what it takes to appease the people and Americans would have a Congress that is closer to the true desires of the American people. Below I have put a link to show the Congressional District map in two states which each have 5 representatives. Notice how the distict borders in Iowa are a much better way of organizing the state in regions whose boudaries make sense.
Iowa Congressional District map
Connecticut Congressional District map