We all know that unemployment has been relatively high for several years now, but how much better would it be if more people would consider moving to places with lower unemployment rates?
According a recent article on Slate.com, in 1985 over 20% of the population moved but that number fell steadily to 11.6% in 2011 and 12% in 2012. Moves from New York to Florida (presumably led by retirees) were the most common state-to-state moves, but none of the 10 lowest unemployment rate states were top 10 destinations and none of the five worst unemployment rate states were top 10 departure points.
The article also discusses college graduates, who think in terms of a “career” that is pursued by actively seeking opportunity, instead of just looking for a local job, and are several times more responsive to geographical changes in labor demand. It argues that such geographical flexibility may help partially explain why the unemployment rate for college graduates is about half the rate of those with only a high school degree or less.
