Monday, February 18, 2008

How the Recession Might Be Felt

An interesting chart from The Economist shows how unemployment is distributed across the nation.



Can anybody see the correlation between unemployment and some major economic phenomenon occurring now?

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:53 PM

    IMMIGRATION!

    Rock on
    bucktowndusty

    ReplyDelete
  2. Most of the states with >4% unemployment rates harbor Illegal Aliens ? (http://www.ojjpac.org/sanctuary.asp).

    i.e. no questions asked when someone shows up for their welfare checks ?

    :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was thinking housing crash.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous4:57 PM

    And you were thinking wrong. The Carolinas -- about the only place in the country where housing values are still going up -- are terrible in that chart. Virginia and New Hampshire, which are getting pounded, are doing OK. Maine and Missouri aren't particularly getting pounded worse than say Colorado or Florida.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous3:02 PM

    Yeah! I live in Utah which doesn't have a housing crash or high unemployment! I'll be all right!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous might have a good point, but the housing crash isn't a state-by-state phenomenon. Northern Virginia might be getting pounded, but in my neck of the woods the prices are still going up in a very Carolina-like fashion. A more detailed (maybe by county) comparison might be illuminating.

    The major trend I see is that unemployment is highest along the West Coast and the Mississippi River - suggesting that the disappearance of steamboats may be a factor.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5:24 AM

    "The major trend I see is that unemployment is highest along the West Coast and the Mississippi River - suggesting that the disappearance of steamboats may be a factor."

    This comment is made of win. It reminds me of a chart showing an inverse correlation between global temperatures and the number of pirates.

    ReplyDelete