Orlando still most 'financially distressed' in U.S., despite slight 1st-quarter improvement (University: 2013, rent)

[Aimewitue]

Metro Orlando takes baby steps to improve ranking: "Financially-distressed" Metro Orlando takes baby steps to improve consumer financial ranking - OrlandoSentinel.com

Long road back but i see some improvements in the area. Opinions??

[OrlFlaUsa]

God 10 straight quarters atop their list, way too much gloom and doom for me. And perhaps I just don't buy it. Our metro unemployment rate is only 6.6% which puts it only slightly behind the metros in Texas and ahead of most of the Southeast. Now, I will concede that our jobs tend to be "lower paying service industry jobs," but come on, should we really be ranked the worst. Even though growth slowed during the recession, we still saw some huge civic improvements started and/or completed, and even some huge expansions at the parks (in anticipation of the turnaround). Now I'm smart enough to realize we're not even close to pre-recession levels, but I've traveled to many metros across the southeast during the downturn and definitely witnessed way more "financial-distress" than back here in Central Florida despite everything we were hit with.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa

Our metro unemployment rate is only 6.6% which puts it only slightly behind the metros in Texas and ahead of most of the Southeast. Now, I will concede that our jobs tend to be "lower paying service industry jobs....

While our unemployment rate may be low it doesn't tell the full story. It's well documented that the average salary here is lower than most any major metro area in the US while our cost of living is around middle of the pack. Lastly available jobs tend to be mostly part-time and lacking in benefits.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

While our unemployment rate may be low it doesn't tell the full story. It's well documented that the average salary here is lower than most any major metro area in the US while our cost of living is around middle of the pack. Lastly available jobs tend to be mostly part-time and lacking in benefits.

Yeah, much better to be an area like metro Detroit or central CA with real double-digit unemployment

[OrlFlaUsa]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

While our unemployment rate may be low it doesn't tell the full story. It's well documented that the average salary here is lower than most any major metro area in the US while our cost of living is around middle of the pack. Lastly available jobs tend to be mostly part-time and lacking in benefits.

I do understand this, but I will tell you that everything cost the same if not more in the Greenville SC metro except housing (which I rented so that was a wash) and utilities (which are partially included in rent in Orlando in many cases). My groceries and everything else were the same, if not more, and I made less, and my fiancee would have made 10k a year less as a teacher up there had she been able to actually find a district that was hiring. She found a job immediately in Orlando and makes more and pays less for her benefits than her SC friends who became teachers up there. So we can not immediately discount a lower unemployment rate for here vs there because for our lives it made a real difference plus we get to live in a much larger city with more to do and better weather for our's (and many's) preference.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Yeah, much better to be an area like metro Detroit or central CA with real double-digit unemployment

No one ever said either were better options. However obviously there are numerous better options given the economic facts.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa

I do understand this, but I will tell you that everything cost the same if not more in the Greenville SC metro except housing (which I rented so that was a wash) and utilities (which are partially included in rent in Orlando in many cases). My groceries and everything else were the same, if not more, and I made less, and my fiancee would have made 10k a year less as a teacher up there had she been able to actually find a district that was hiring. She found a job immediately in Orlando and makes more and pays less for her benefits than her SC friends who became teachers up there. So we can not immediately discount a lower unemployment rate for here vs there because for our lives it made a real difference plus we get to live in a much larger city with more to do and better weather for our's (and many's) preference.

Greenville SC isn't necessarily a great comparison point given the size of the metro area. Better comparisons would be Charlotte, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Antonio or Cincinnati if talking apple to apple in terms of size. And as well all know, weather doesn't pay bills or contribute towards retirement savings.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

No one ever said either were better options. However obviously there are numerous better options given the economic facts.

Orlando Sentinel

[Aimewitue]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Orlando Sentinel

Quote from article:
'Though state and local numbers are heading in the right direction, economists point out that much of the job growth is happening in sectors that do not pay very well or offer particularly generous benefits.

Seyfried said in Metro Orlando, about 70 percent of the jobs created in April were in retail sales. Over the past year, 44 percent of the region's new jobs came from the leisure and hospitality sector.

Mark Soskin, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida, said the state is still woozy from the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in construction, the space industry and the defense industry.

"Many of those were good fringe benefits, high-salary jobs," he said. "And many of them aren't likely to return soon."

While the job market clearly has improved, it likely looks stronger than it really is. That's because the labor force participation rate — a measure of people working or looking for work — has been contracting at both the state and national levels, a trend that helps suppress the jobless rate."

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Aimewitue

Quote from article:
'Though state and local numbers are heading in the right direction, economists point out that much of the job growth is happening in sectors that do not pay very well or offer particularly generous benefits.

Seyfried said in Metro Orlando, about 70 percent of the jobs created in April were in retail sales. Over the past year, 44 percent of the region's new jobs came from the leisure and hospitality sector.

Mark Soskin, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida, said the state is still woozy from the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in construction, the space industry and the defense industry.

"Many of those were good fringe benefits, high-salary jobs," he said. "And many of them aren't likely to return soon."

While the job market clearly has improved, it likely looks stronger than it really is. That's because the labor force participation rate — a measure of people working or looking for work — has been contracting at both the state and national levels, a trend that helps suppress the jobless rate."

Exactly....everyone loves to look past the fact that the new jobs are part-time generally, have no benefits and pay maybe $9-$10 an hour, with 70% of the jobs created in Retail since April and nearly half in Leisure and Hospitality over the past year....which doesn't include Retail numbers. One has to look past the numbers to see the reality of what is happening economically. Denver, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, San Jose and Cincinnati also are at or near 7.2% unemployment. To suggest Orlando is on equal economic footing with any of those cities is pure idiocy.