Arizonas Appeal to Michigan? (Phoenix, Scottsdale: big house, incomes, living)

[gwinn_raptor]

Sorry all, i didnt mean to paint a rosey picture of Arizona's job/employment situation vs Michigan's. My brother and sister moved out to Goodyear early this summer and are having a very hard time finding jobs, so i can relate. I was just strictly comparing unemployment rates......i mean Michigan is holding top honors there at 15.4%......i think arizona is 7 -9% range.........could be wrong.

From a far, those kind of rates seem much better than Michigan's do. Michigans lower side of the unemployment rate for the past 10-15 years has been around where Arizona's is right now.

Baraga county, just north of me right now is 24.5% unemployment.......its grim! Alot of the jobs are getting lost because businesses are going under, not just laid off for a while. I doubt alot of these kind of jobs are going to come back.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by krock1dk

The opinion of many Michiganders towards Arizona is often the result of ignorance and disgust for the cold weather and lack of jobs. Trust me, I moved here from MI and the talk is the same there. They say the same thing about Florida too. Whenever I go back to C my family in East Lansing, many people tell me things like "I wish I was you. I should consider going there. You should go there and not come back. Your family should move there too. Arizona is the best (even though they've never been here). And I'll bet they have lots of good jobs there." I Laugh every time I here that stuff and tell em the truth from my perspective. Often they dont believe me. Nonetheless, if I found a job there I would probably move back. The people are nicer--no CA influence. GREEN GRASS. Four seasons. WATER. Excellent cost of living. And the jobs will eventually return. However, I cant stand the cold. But you cant have everything and have to take the good with the bad--shoveling snow. But the extreme heat here is just as bad, so you are simply trading one extreme for another. The funny thing is that many Michiganders who move here to get a "better life" often move back after a few years when they realize the truth that AZ isnt what they thought it was. You can have a great life, no matter where you live, and dont have to move to a sunny climate to do so.

And the reality is that you strongly prefer Michigan..........many of us '4 season' refugees hate cold weather.

Yes; the summers here can be piggish in the Phx area, that stated, what will probably wind up forcing me out of here will be the overcrowding (the #1 reason that I will not ever live in the Los Angeles area again)---------not the heat.

The above stated: the #1 reason I cringe in living in Bullhead City is due to its 5-10 degree hotter summers than here.

[krock1dk]

Originally Posted by gwinn_raptor

Sorry all, i didnt mean to paint a rosey picture of Arizona's job/employment situation vs Michigan's. My brother and sister moved out to Goodyear early this summer and are having a very hard time finding jobs, so i can relate. I was just strictly comparing unemployment rates......i mean Michigan is holding top honors there at 15.4%......i think arizona is 7 -9% range.........could be wrong.

You are wrong, but its OK. Arizona's unemployment rate is 9.7%.

[ElkHunter]

I don't take those numbers as too solid. Where do they come from? Stats on what they track. You have 9.7 people drawing unemployment. It doesn't include those that benefits run out of. If a person is unemployed and hasn't found a job during the time of unemployment, they don't count. It's only those that are currently registered, and or, drawing unemployment.

There is no way of figuring home mom/dad that don't want employment. It doesn't count homeless. It doesn't count those that have run out of benefits and now have nothing. So, in reality, the numbers are greater.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

I don't take those numbers as too solid. Where do they come from? Stats on what they track. You have 9.7 people drawing unemployment. It doesn't include those that benefits run out of. If a person is unemployed and hasn't found a job during the time of unemployment, they don't count. It's only those that are currently registered, and or, drawing unemployment.

There is no way of figuring home mom/dad that don't want employment. It doesn't count homeless. It doesn't count those that have run out of benefits and now have nothing. So, in reality, the numbers are greater.

The US published figure is based on a household survey - not on claims filed or being paid. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics contacts about 60K households in the US and asks them if they are employed - for the purposes of this survey self-employment is counted as is "underemployment". The results are adjusted with population estimates to arrive at the number you read. Because it is a survey it is subject to all the error that surveys are - primarily sampling and definition. The household survey uses proxied or third-party answers where respondents give information on family members in the household, for example. At any rate, unemployment claims being paid or not paid are not influencing this number.

Regardless of method, as a relative measure, it is useful. Michigan's number is much worse than Arizona's and there is no doubt that unemployment there is more widespread and serious. As anyone here (Arizona) can tell you, things are bad - very bad - so I can only imagine what it is like in MI.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

The US published figure is based on a household survey - not on claims filed or being paid. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics contacts about 60K households in the US and asks them if they are employed - for the purposes of this survey self-employment is counted as is "underemployment". The results are adjusted with population estimates to arrive at the number you read. Because it is a survey it is subject to all the error that surveys are - primarily sampling and definition. The household survey uses proxied or third-party answers where respondents give information on family members in the household, for example. At any rate, unemployment claims being paid or not paid are not influencing this number.

Regardless of method, as a relative measure, it is useful. Michigan's number is much worse than Arizona's and there is no doubt that unemployment there is more widespread and serious. As anyone here (Arizona) can tell you, things are bad - very bad - so I can only imagine what it is like in MI.

I agree, the numbers are useful, just not real accurate. You can look and see one area is more reliable for employment, but exact, they are not.

[Gandalara]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

The US published figure is based on a household survey - not on claims filed or being paid. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics contacts about 60K households in the US and asks them if they are employed - for the purposes of this survey self-employment is counted as is "underemployment".

less than .02% of the pop? (that's 2/100th's!)
(unless my math is wrong ... 60,000 divided by 300,000,000 plus?)

Gah. That's worse than the Nielsen TV ratings.

[krock1dk]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

I don't take those numbers as too solid. Where do they come from? Stats on what they track. You have 9.7 people drawing unemployment. It doesn't include those that benefits run out of. If a person is unemployed and hasn't found a job during the time of unemployment, they don't count. It's only those that are currently registered, and or, drawing unemployment.

There is no way of figuring home mom/dad that don't want employment. It doesn't count homeless. It doesn't count those that have run out of benefits and now have nothing. So, in reality, the numbers are greater.

You are preaching to the choir! The real unemployment rate is at least twice as high as what is reported. I can tell you that Arizona also doesnt look at illegal immigrants. They make up a huge bulk of construction, landscaping and maid service jobs here. At least they did until the economy here fell apart.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by krock1dk

You are preaching to the choir! The real unemployment rate is at least twice as high as what is reported. I can tell you that Arizona also doesnt look at illegal immigrants. They make up a huge bulk of construction, landscaping and maid service jobs here. At least they did until the economy here fell apart.

Actually; our illegal aliens are down about 30-50% compared to 2 years ago...........and, still dwindling in numbers.

[OnryOne]

Well compared to central Ohio, Dayton has lost GM's blazer plant, Delphi, NCR, Mead and a handful of other smaller subsidiaries to those big employers. Also the weather is just not to my liking any longer, muggy, humid, wet summers, weird winter weather, it rains, it freezes, it melts then freezes again then it snows a little to cover it all up. It'll be 30 degrees one day and 60 the next. At least when I lived in NH for 5 yrs you found out real fast what winter was. I'm ready for the change. Flip me over Myrtle I'm done on this side.............