All Things Considered, D.C.'s Not Bad
Jobless numbers staggering across country
By JIM IOVINO
Updated 8:46 AM EST, Thu, Oct 29, 2009
The Redskins stink. Traffic is terrible. And Metro certainly doesn't smell like a bed of roses.
But at least we're not Los Angeles!
New stats released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the Washington region lost 37,000 jobs in the past year. Sounds bad? It is if you are one of those thousands of people, or know someone who is. But things could be worse.
The Los Angeles area lost a whopping 220,000 jobs during the same time frame (September 2008 to September 2009).
New York City (216,000) and Chicago (207,800) also cracked the 200,000 Club, while Phoenix, Detroit and Atlanta all saw job losses top 140,000.
The numbers are staggering across the country. Unemployment rates were higher in September than a year earlier in 371 of 372 metropolitan areas and lower in one area, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That one area? Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La., which saw the unemployment rate drop by 1.4 percent. Thanks Hurricane Gustav! Meanwhile, the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas area posted the highest growth in jobs, adding 3,100 over the one-year time span.
So when all's said and done, we may complain about Metro and traffic, but living in the D.C. area does have some advantages over the rest of the country, right? OK, Redskins fans might disagree...
First Published: Oct 29, 2009 7:44 AM EST
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