Greenville and Columbia's unemployment rate now above 15%. (Spartanburg, York: job market, college)

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by Columbiadata

The main problem is that the article is not even in the newspaper this morning because it was false journalism. If the two cities' unemployment rates are really that high, it's the cities' only and not the MSA's. Who talks about cities only when talking about unemployment, unless the article is specifically about municipalities? And in that case, think about the District of Columbia's unemployment rate compared with the Washington MSA's. I think the journalist saw her mistake and took it off the website and pulled it from today's printed edition.

I implore someone to find the Brookings article and post it on here. I looked absolutely everywhere yesterday and last night and couldn't find it. To check out Columbia and Greenville's unemployment rates (MSA's), visit the SC Employment security commission's website.

Check out the link to the article now. They killed it because they knew it was wrong.

http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/873395.html

Good for you.. The State should hire you... They should verify their info before they put it out there.. but of course they are trying to sell papers. The article certainly caught my attention

[g-man430]

Whew, good to hear it was wrong.

[waccamatt]

I thought those figures sounded ridiculously high, but I will note that state/federal unemployment figures are usually low everywhere because they don't include people who have given up on looking for a job.

[g-man430]

At least I don't have to listen to the Columbia and Greenville forum members argue with each other over this.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by g-man430

At least I don't have to listen to the Columbia and Greenville forum members argue with each other over this.

...no but but but wait.. you didnt let us finish.. Greenville's unemployment is 1% higher than Columbia's and that because......Just kidding

[nortonguy]

How does Charleston's unemployment compare?

[Columbiadata]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

How does Charleston's unemployment compare?

Columbia 10%, Charleston 10.2% and Greenville 11%.

[Rybar]

As soon as I read it on Wednesday, I e-mailed the reporter to say I found the article very misleading and asked for clarification that Columbia has the 4th highest unemployment of all major MSA's in the nation, and that Greenville has the 6th highest unemployment of all MSA's. She sent me back a very short, snippy remark that defended the article and she said "the headline and first sentance clearly say that Columbia and Greenville have among the worst unemployment. That should not be confusing to understand." Two hours later, the article was pulled down.

I spent a lot of time looking for this study on the Internet, and it is nowhere to be found. I even looked on the Brookings website and the AP wire. This "study" is not referenced a single other place on the Internet. Brookings did release a study on June 22 comparing the economic health of the 100 largest MSA's in the USA, including unemployment, foreclosures, real estate prices, etc. Columbia was ranked 25th out of 100 in overall econonomic health, and Greenville was 49 out of 100.

It's obvious now that the article was seriously flawed, but, as a longtime reader of The State, I very much want to know where this reporter got her information. Clearly she got it from SOMEWHERE. Which study was she reading that showed Columbia and Greenville are among the 10 MSA's in the nation for highest unemployment? The article clearly says the study compared metropolitan areas, not actual "city limit" municipalities. But, even if the reporter misinterpreted the study, and it actually only studied muncipal populations, then Columbia and Greenville would not have been included in the study, because they are nowhere NEAR the top 100 largest populations in the nation. Our MSA's are in the top 100, but not actual city populations. The article is flat out bizarre.

[waccamatt]

^The State's quality of research has hit rock bottom in recent months. I know McClatchy Papers had many layoffs - I wonder if they laid off all of their researchers and editors?

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by Rybar

It's obvious now that the article was seriously flawed, but, as a longtime reader of The State, I very much want to know where this reporter got her information. Clearly she got it from SOMEWHERE. Which study was she reading that showed Columbia and Greenville are among the 10 MSA's in the nation for highest unemployment? The article clearly says the study compared metropolitan areas, not actual "city limit" municipalities. But, even if the reporter misinterpreted the study, and it actually only studied muncipal populations, then Columbia and Greenville would not have been included in the study, because they are nowhere NEAR the top 100 largest populations in the nation. Our MSA's are in the top 100, but not actual city populations. The article is flat out bizarre.

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Fil...ion_report.pdf (page 4)