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I know several people who have attended recent job fairs here in Greenville. They have told me that everytime there is a job fair hundreds of people show up to apply for minimum wage jobs. This fact is a big indication that there are a lot of people who are unemployed and now so desperate to work that they will accept any job just to keep their bills paid. My neighbor just shared another horror story with me yesterday. His sister who has worked on her job here in Greenville for 14 years was just laid off on Friday.
As one of the posters already said SC is in a mess but if people want to hide from that fact then that is their business. Those that are taking a chance moving here from other cities good luck to you.
Moving from NYC to SC ? I'd say look at York County particular areas to focus on would be
Fort Mill (excellent schools low crime) and Tega Cay. It's a hop skip and jump to Charlotte.
I only say that because you may still wish to take advantage of a big city. It's quite a jump to
go from NYC to a small city in SC.
The BLS's figures for metropolitan statistical areas is a month old. July's rates for Columbia and Greenville are 9.3 and 10.5, representing a drop for both MSA's. Also, the SC labor force lost 10,000, but the labor force in the state's three major MSA's increased. It seems to me that larger SC MSA labor forces with a drop in SC MSA unemployment deserve a special paragraph in articles about SC unemployment, explaining that we are seeing a migration from the rural areas to the MSAs and an improvement in the hiring numbers within the MSAs.
The BLS's latest stats for MSAs are for June. All the BLS does is publish the states' stats. The SC Employment Security Commission has already released July's figures: Columbia 9.3, Greenville 10.5. For the last couple of months the seasonably adjusted figures have been lower than the figures first published.
The BLS's latest stats for MSAs are for June. All the BLS does is publish the states' stats. The SC Employment Security Commission has already released July's figures: Columbia 9.3, Greenville 10.5. For the last couple of months the seasonably adjusted figures have been lower than the figures first published.
Figured, however BLS doesn't release statistics until the end of the month, unlike state employment statistics, so I suggest you wait until next month, those are still very high numbers though.
If the BLS does use metro unemployment statistics from the state agency and simply waits 2 weeks after, then the BLS may have been confusing people, myself included, it appears that they are separately tracked at different times,
however as the note says unemployment rates may actually be higher than indicated, due to people giving up looking for jobs and the number of unemployment leaving, so based on that as well as the above user's account of people looking for jobs in the area, I still suggest you strongly consider your move, perhaps wait until you get a job offer
It's all relative. Columbia and Greenville aren't the only MSAs in the nation where some people have quit looking for work. The BLS does use the states' figures. Any change in SC's figures comes from the fact that two weeks later the figures may have been seasonally adjusted, and then the following month the state's figures show the previous month's seasonably adjusted figures. Probably the reason the BLS's figures come out two weeks later than SC's is that not all states' figures are ready at the same time SC's are. For instance, google "Charlotte's unemployment rate July 2009" and you won't find their July 2009 figures yet. I always have to wait a while after SC's figures are released to compare our MSAs' figures to Charlotte and Raleigh's, with which we have been comparing quite favorably for months. The fact remains that the labor forces in our three largest MSAs increased while their respective unemployment rates decreased, so it can't be said that the reason our MSAs' unemployment rates decreased is because their labor forces are smaller. If you want to move somewhere with a low unemployment rate move to North Dakota. As it is, Columbia's unemployment rate is lower than the national average, and for now I'll take it.
Last edited by Charlestondata; 08-24-2009 at 06:31 AM..
Case in point: As you can see by the attached chart, NC will not release the July '09 unemployment numbers for its MSAs (referred to as areas on the chart) until 8/28/09. SC released its MSA figures a week earlier on 8/21.
Here, let's make it easy...don't move to SC. See, that wasn't so hard now, huh? As a fellow NYer, I can attest to the fact that not only is it a HUGE culture shock, the unemployment rate is not something to laugh at.
Certain areas are doing better this quarter simply because of tourism. This WILL change in the upcoming quarter because the tourists go home, and the small amount of snowbirds come back. They certainly don't make up for the loss, either. Restaurants close down for the winter, as do the water parks, hotels slim down to bare bones, etc. Think of it...all of those people who were working are now unemployed...again. So where will they be come mid September? You guessed it...the unemployment line.
While the weather is nice (but extremely humid) in the summer and the winters are awesome, there is something to be said for employment.
Columbia isn't much of a tourist town (although it has improved somewhat in that area), but it has the lowest unemployment in the state at 9.3.
That said, in general I believe that when a person picks up and moves to somewhere because they have a list of reasons why they hate where they live, they'll have a new list before long no matter where they go.
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As a fellow NYer, I can attest to the fact that not only is it a HUGE culture shock, the unemployment rate is not something to laugh at.
