Article source for : Two different views on Toledo's job market
A couple of stories from earlier this month.
Sep 11, 2007 Toledo Blade "story":http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/BUSINESS09/709110337 :
q.
Metro Toledo ranks among the best cities in the state in terms of hiring for the October through December period in a new survey. Adding workers is expected by 37 percent of area firms and cutting payroll is planned by 3 percent of companies in the fourth quarter of the year. The survey shows Toledo better than or equal to the hiring plans in 16 other metro areas in Ohio.
q..
I believe metro Toledo includes the counties of Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, and Fulton.
br. Sep 10, 2007 bizjournals story titled "Where the hottest job markets are":http://www.bizjournals.com/edit_special/55.html. Toledo is in the coldest 10.
q.
There is a geographical sameness to the bottom 10. Three lagging markets are in Michigan, and four are in next-door Ohio.
q..
10 Coldest Job Markets
# Detroit
# New Orleans
# Youngstown
# Dayton
# Cleveland
# Lansing
# Toledo
# Springfield, MA
# New Haven, CT
# Grand Rapids, MI
About Toledo from the article:
q.
Unemployment is spiking upward in Toledo -- from 5.9 percent a year ago to 6.6 percent by the middle of 2007. The latter is the fifth-worst jobless rate in any major market. The number of jobs in Toledo is slowly trending in the opposite direction -- down 700 in the past 12 months.
Quick stats
* Private-sector jobs as of mid-2007: 286,300
* Unemployment rate as of mid-2007: 6.6%
* Private-sector trend since mid-2002: Lost 900 jobs
* Five-year growth rate: -0.3%
* Private-sector trend since mid-2006: Lost 700 jobs
* One-year growth rate: -0.2%
q..
br. Sep 21, 2007 mlive.com "story":http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2007/09/state_house_passes_income_tax.html :
q.
LANSING -- The Democrat-led state House continues to get tangled up in tax debates as it tries to resolve a projected budget crisis for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. The House was again voting early today on a *proposal to increase the personal income tax rate* from the current 3.9 percent to 4.6 percent. The proposal could raise about $1.1 billion for the state next fiscal year, leaving more than $600 million of a potential deficit to be eliminated by cuts or other revenue sources.
All this week, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has showcased what the income tax funds in the budget -- public safety, health care and education. She said the *tax hike was critical* to protecting vulnerable citizens and to *"save the state"* from a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
q..
Feb 2007 Toledo Talk posting - [[Stats on Ohio's taxes and small business environment]]
q.
*State Taxes* This is a ranking where it's best to be near the bottom. Ohio, unfortunately, is near the top for the amount of taxes its citizens pay.
q..
br. Other Toledo Talk postings:
* Mar 2003 - "Toledo may not be attractive to 'new economy'":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/148
* Oct 2003 - "Toledo leads state in high-tech job growth ":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/19/330
* Mar 2004 - "Toledo is entrepreneur-friendly":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/531
* Jun 2004 - "Toledo loses business incubator":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/623
* Feb 2005 - "Ohio's job losses":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/941
* Aug 2005 - "Top-paying jobs flee Lucas Co.":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1365#7623
* Nov 2005 - "Business-friendly scale":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1591
* Jan 2006 - "Job Postings Per Capita":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1832
* Feb 2006 - "Metro Toledo ranks near last for job growth":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/2001
* Apr 2007 - "Toledo rated most business friendly":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/3725
br. Back to the Sep 2007 bizjournals story:
* "Study Methodology":http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/pages/116.html
* "Rankings for Top Markets":http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/pages/115.html
* "Rankings for 100 largest markets":http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/pages/110.html
q.
The study's objective was to determine the relative strength of the nation's 100 largest labor markets, based on short- and long-term employment trends. Bizjournals rated each labor market in the nine categories below:
q..
# Five-year job growth by percentage (2002-07)
# Four-year job growth by percentage (2003-07)
# Three-year job growth by percentage (2004-07)
# Two-year job growth by percentage (2005-07)
# One-year job growth by percentage (2006-07)
# Five-year job growth by raw total (2002-07)
# One-year job growth by raw total (2006-07)
# Unemployment rate (2007)
# One-year change in unemployment rate (2006-07)
br. *Unemployment rate (June 2007)*
* Boise, Idaho 2.1%
* Salt Lake City 2.8%
* Honolulu 2.9%
* Phoenix 3.0%
* Richmond 3.2%
* Washington 3.3%
* Des Moines, Iowa 3.4%
* Knoxville, Tenn. 3.4%
* Lancaster, Pa. 3.4%
* Virginia Beach-Norfolk 3.4%
br. 10 Hottest Job Markets
# Phoenix
# Salt Lake City
# Boise
# Riverside-San Bernardino, CA
# Houston
# Dallas-Fort Worth
# Las Vegas
# Austin
# Cape Coral-Fort Myers
# Tuscon
For most on that Top 10, "hot" also applies to their weather. I suppose you get used to it, but I prefer cool weather. I'd like to move further north in order to be around more snow. Maybe someone can propose outlawing air conditioning as means to save the environment, and then people and jobs will move back north.
