4th best city to find a job. (Detroit, Grand Rapids: transplants, credit)

[Michigantown]

Originally Posted by skinnayyy

The metrics that people use is what makes the number different. The 8.7% is probably the true unemployment, where as the 6% is the unemployment minus all the unemployed people that have stopped looking for work.

The 8.7 is form Google. I don't know how they calculate it.

[BoomRShine]

This list, like most "top" lists of cities, is actually "The 10 Best Metro Areas For Finding Employment". Given that, the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area did have an unemployment rate of 6.6 as of February.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Michigantown

The 8.7 is form Google. I don't know how they calculate it.

Ahh, that's for people who live in the "city" of Grand Rapids, which is only about 1/5 the entire metro area. Like most urban areas, the inner cities have higher unemployment and poverty rates.

Look at the description over to the right:
https://www.google.com/#output=searc...w=1366&bih=640

Without getting into debates about what the "true" unemployment rate is, the metro area (what the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses) is about 6.6.

[Michigantown]

Down to 6.2 in March after a nice Manufacturing boost.

[Michigantown]

March was a good month
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI Economy at a Glance

[ARPARP]

GR has a bit better unemployment than most of MI, not to mention IN and IL. It is a very manufacturing based area though. Yes there are other industries but manufacturing is what keeps the others going strong, if it is doing bad they will be doing worse, not as bad, but worse. The boom periods are good here, the bust periods are miserable. My dad has worked 40 years in manufacturing and he can recount the GR economy. Basically GR's economy is one of high highs and low lows, not as bad as CA or NV but still to be noticed.

During the 1950s-1960s there were jobs to be had around here. My parents weren't working then but their parents had prosperity in the post WWII boom. Jobs practically grew on trees. My grandfather came from the South and built a life working for the auto industry here in GR. Things have been boom and bust since the 1970s though. From my dad's account the 70s were quite bad, he was young then and spent an entire year unemployed. The 80s were a boom period in GR and he had a lot of good jobs then. The early 90s recession did not affect him since he kept his job but it was tough for a lot of people. The 90s were the real boom time. It was not unheard of to earn low six figures if you had a union job in a blue collar industry, but the 90s were an anomaly. The 2003 recession hurt our state bad, stuff got a bit better around 2006 but never to the 90s, in the 2008-2009 recession we had 15% unemployed, now we are down to 6. Recessions will come and go. GR may be one of the better places to find a job but the highs are high and the lows are low, not as bad as East MI but worse than a lot of places. There are better places in this nation than GR.

No it is not hard to find a job here but the thing this conceals is how many of those jobs are part time, no benefits. Those types of jobs grow on trees. Full time jobs with decent pay and benefits exist, but you will be lucky to get one. Finally a lot of the unemployment drop comes from people leaving. MI will never come back. There are smart people who stay, but most of those who leave are the college educated. The people who are not ever leaving are the types of people who do blue collar jobs. We've got massive brain drain, an economy prone to fluctuations. Beautiful area but if the economy is what you are after, only a person with rose tinted glasses would ever dream of actually relocating to MI

[allbusiness]

One list may use the MSA and the other just the city limits. Until you dig into the data, it's hard to tell.

"Grand Rapids" can be defined in about 6 or 7 different ways. There's the city limits, the metro area, the Metropolitan and/or the Micropolitan Statistical Areas, urban clusters, the Grand Rapids-Wyoming Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Grand Rapids–Muskegon–Holland Combined Statistical Area....it's mind boggling!

Plus, they redifine the areas every few years.

It's my suspicion that the incredible economy of Ottawa County is helping "Grand Rapids" look very good these days... ;-)

[Michigantown]

Originally Posted by allbusiness

One list may use the MSA and the other just the city limits. Until you dig into the data, it's hard to tell.

"Grand Rapids" can be defined in about 6 or 7 different ways. There's the city limits, the metro area, the Metropolitan and/or the Micropolitan Statistical Areas, urban clusters, the Grand Rapids-Wyoming Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Grand Rapids–Muskegon–Holland Combined Statistical Area....it's mind boggling!

Plus, they redifine the areas every few years.

It's my suspicion that the incredible economy of Ottawa County is helping "Grand Rapids" look very good these days... ;-)

The bls hasn't changed to the new metro yet.
http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.mi_grandrapids_msa.htm

[magellan]

Originally Posted by allbusiness

One list may use the MSA and the other just the city limits. Until you dig into the data, it's hard to tell.

"Grand Rapids" can be defined in about 6 or 7 different ways. There's the city limits, the metro area, the Metropolitan and/or the Micropolitan Statistical Areas, urban clusters, the Grand Rapids-Wyoming Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Grand Rapids–Muskegon–Holland Combined Statistical Area....it's mind boggling!

Plus, they redifine the areas every few years.

It's my suspicion that the incredible economy of Ottawa County is helping "Grand Rapids" look very good these days... ;-)

I don't know that I'd say it's "mind-boggling." The last time it was redefined was in 2004.

Grand Rapids is pretty easy to define: City, Kent County, Metro Area.

Kent and Ottawa Counties have been almost identical the last 3 or 4 years, both in employment gains and population gains. Construction spending in Kent County dwarfs Ottawa County.

Just sayin. Keep it real.

[ARPARP]

Finally how many people do we have dropping out of the labor market? So many people left Michigan over the years it is not funny, so many people just gave up, so many people just settled for work that was either part time when they wanted full time or below their skill set when they were college educated. Grand Rapids still sucks for a lot of people, and no amount of rose tinted glasses will allow me to think GR is good. The people who are doing well forget that there but for the grace of God go they. Can't wait to leave.