Positive 2008 Job Report for Upstate | WSPA Story (Greenville, Spartanburg: sales, 2009)

[ckeegan]

I think I'm still in awe that the local news actually reported on something positive, rather than dwelling on national numbers that mislead the public into thinking that the Upstate is in the same boat.

Positive 2008 Job Report for Upstate | WSPA

[quote]Published: March 11, 2009

Upstate, S.C., March 11, 2009 – While doom and gloom often dominates national headlines, the Upstate of South Carolina continues to defy the odds. The Upstate SC Alliance held its annual meeting Wednesday afternoon, reporting to members and other attendees that the 10 counties of the Upstate had a banner year for economic development in 2008.


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[g-man430]

South Carolina ranks 2nd in the nation for unemployment. The upstate is in the same boat. The unemployment rate is now 9.3% in the Greenville MSA.

[ckeegan]

Originally Posted by g-man430

South Carolina ranks 2nd in the nation for unemployment. The upstate is in the same boat. The unemployment rate is now 9.3% in the Greenville MSA.

That's strange, last time I checked, the January number was 8.9% for Greenville County (yes, I know you stated MSA), which puts us at #40 of 46 counties in South Carolina. I think I'd rather be on our side of the boat then.

Not to mention the fact that those are prelimary figures, and BLS had to revise December numbers from 9.5% to 8.8% for SC. What's is gonna look like when they revise South Carolina's January numbers?

Next, are you going to tell me that Greenville has the worst schools in the country, because South Carolina is still ranked lowest on a list that uses data from 2004?

[Greenville]

Originally Posted by ckeegan

Next, are you going to tell me that Greenville has the worst schools in the country, because South Carolina is still ranked lowest on a list that uses data from 2004?

That depends on whether or not he took his meds today.

[g-man430]

It's still high unemployment either way ckeegan.

[Art123]

I was laid off earlier this year, but found another job within a few weeks. My wife's company laid off four people and issued across the board pay cuts. I know of a few other businesses that are hanging on by a thread in my industry and a couple starting the bankruptcy process here in the upstate. Neither my layoff or my wife's pay cut will show up in those stats in that article. I work with wholesale suppliers who have never seen it this bad. It doesn't really matter what reports say when you personally know so many people being affected around you.

[Studyin'2Show]

I can appreciate that things may not be great but we're relocating from Florida where things are MUCH worse! (Don't worry, I work from home and my hubby is being transferred so we won't be taking jobs away) I think that's the point ckeegan is making. The bottom line is that it is horrible most everywhere. Greenville/Spartanburg may be bad but in being so it is much better than most other places in the US. Statistics can really be deceiving. For example, our housing cost for our 5 bedroom rental in Florida is $2,500. We're buying a 6 bedroom in Boiling Springs and our housing cost including taxes and insurance will be less than $1,100. If one of us were to lose our job down here, we'd be evicted and in dire straits in just 2 months. Yet if the same thing were to happen once we move up there we will be able to survive the financial hit. We may be eating more raman noodles and grilled cheese sandwiches and less steak but we would get by.

My aunt lives on a SS check and a small pension from her late husband. She was complaining that her rent on her 2 bedroom apartment was going up like $20 to $545. Yet in Florida there is no way she'd even have a nice apartment for that price. (I've seen it and it is very nice) You'd be hard pressed to find a 2 bedroom apartment for $1,000 in a good neighborhood. For $545 you'd have a hard time finding a nice room for rent or roommate opportunity. I will be so happy to get out of the rat race down here and have the oppotunity to actually save and get ahead up there. But hey, that's just my take as a soon-to-be former Floridian.

[ckeegan]

Originally Posted by g-man430

It's still high unemployment either way ckeegan.

The problem with your first post is that you said the Upstate was in the "same boat" as the rest of South Carolina, when in actuality, the Upstate ranks very well in comparison to other South Carolina regions. Greenville, specifically, ranks extremely well compared to other counties.

Sure it's high unemployment, but the fact remains that the corporate interest in the Upstate will dig us out of the hole much faster than other areas. That is point of the WSPA story, and my original post.

The same can be said about the housing market. The Upstate will recover much faster, because we didn't see the huge decline (in sales or prices) that other areas experienced.

Speaking of which, anyone else notice the TOTAL media shift in the past 72 hours? A week ago, every media outlet (local and national) was talking about the terrible housing market. Now, every single newscast is talking about "strike while the iron's hot", "now is the time to buy", "best buyer's market I've seen in my lifetime", etc, etc, etc. Apparently these media outlets saw they were losing ad revenue, and thought they may want to get the word out. The lady that cut my hair today, said, "I just heard on the news this morning that first time homebuyers can get an $8,000 tax credit." Funny how she just found out this morning, since it started about a month ago.