Page 39
Source: U. S. Census Bureau5.6 - 8.04.1 - 5.51.0 - 2.42.5 - 3.9National MeanPercent UnemploymentUnemploy-mentin Mega-lopolisis lower thanthe national average. Asone of the more dynamicregions in the country, this regionas a whole has seen a decline inunemployment since 1980.xxxxxThere is substantial variationwithin the region, from Baltimore Citywith a civilian reemployment rate of8.1% in 2000 to Fairfax County inVirginia with only a 0.6% rate.While there are pockets ofrelatively high unemploymentrates in some more ruralcounties such as Cape Mayand Atlantic, both in NewJersey, the dominantpicture is of higher unem-ploymentrates in the centralcity areas such as Baltimore City, Bronx(7.3%), Philadelphia (6.1%), Washington DC(5.8%) and New York (4.8%) and lower rates insuburban counties. Particularly impressive is the low rate ofunemployment in the growth zone of counties in southernMaryland and Northern Virginia. Counties such Loudon and Fairfax inVirginia have rates of 1.5% and 1.2% respectively. The suburbanWashington economy, fuelled by federal spending, has experienced majorgrowth of employment in the past twenty years so unemployment is relativelysmall. In contrast, the heavy industrial employment sector has declined, oneof the reasons for the relatively high unemployment rates of industrial countiessuch as Carbon, PA (5.8%).xxxxxThe older central cities have higher unemployment rates while the newersuburban areas have lower unemployment rates; this is a function of thedifferential location of people and jobs. The central cities contain a higherproportion of poorer, ill educatedworkers less able to competesuccessfully in a tight job market whilemore and more jobs are located in thesuburban growth zones. AcrossMegalopolis there is often a mismatchbetween people who need jobs andwhere the jobs are located.New YorkRegion InsetWashingtonRegion InsetSEE INSETSEE INSET0 20 40 60 80 100MILES0 20 40 60 80 100KILOMETERSUnemployment Rate: 1980-20040.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%10.0%12.0%198019851990199520002004Percent UnemploymentMegalopolis4.00 200 400 600 800 1000MILES0 200 400 600 800 1000KILOMETERS
Saved in:
freely available
Saved in favorites
Similar items by subject
-
Find similar items by using search terms and synonyms from our Thesaurus for Economics (STW).