Wednesday 1 October 2014

Space and Place


This map reveals that the American society unemployment percentage in 2009 wasn't just in one area, but it was spread out throughout the whole country. This is interesting because there are people living all across America, but the higher percentage of unemployment are in the areas with a higher population. 
Higher percentage- Michigan, California, Oregon, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Lower percentage- Wyoming, Nebraska, Idaho and Iowa.

Michigan- Michigan has a higher unemployment percentage because Detroit has had a hard time bringing jobs to the city and transport is really bad, so people lose jobs because they can't get to them. There are also a large number of African-Americans in the state (82.7%) identifying as black and African-Americans typically experience higher unemployment rates. This shows that in American society, the higher unemployment rates were in states where there are a higher number of non-whites. 

California- "There's so much competition out there for jobs" California has such a high unemployment rate because there is a higher population of people, due to people wanting to live in the 'Golden State' where the land is one of the best for resources and general  living. And if there is a huge number of people then you have less chance of getting a job because you have more people to compete with. The unemployment rose from 9.7% to 9.9% (June 2014). California has also lost a lot of construction workers (7,300 jobs were lost), and this had an impact on unemployment. California also responded to the economic crisis by cutting public employment and services. 

Oregon- In Oregon there are less employment opportunities and because it is a Western state, many people live there which increases the level of unemployment. Oregon doesn't have a huge industrial or manufacturing industry, due to tax which would have made job opportunities and given people in Oregon work. It also has small cities compared to other cities in the U.S but have a similar population of people there, so there isn't enough jobs for people. In one month, Oregon's unemployment rate rose dramatically from 2006-2008 (U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics). Another factor to why Oregon has a higher percentage of unemployment is that it has high urban concentrations than other cities. However, the population change is not thought to be a factor which is interesting because Oregon is a Western state where land is in good condition for living, but because of the size of the state is relatively small, the population of 3.899 million (2012) it is a lot of people to get jobs in such a small place, especially where there aren't any industries that offer job opportunities. 

North Carolina- North Carolina has a high percentage of unemployment because some of it is imported. This is because people move there but don't get a job which has an impact on the unemployment rates. It is also really dependent on the manufacturing industry which was hit hard during the recession. The construction industry went down 1/3 which is 90,000 jobs due to the recession which has contributed to the unemployment. North Carolina has an unemployment rate of 9.2% (2012 National Women's Law Center). 

South Carolina- South Carolina doesn't have a specific industry, whereas Las Vegas has gambling and Pittsburgh has steel, which help to keep the unemployment rate low as there are more jobs for people. The sectors that provide the most jobs in South Carolina have been hit the hardest, these are tourism, construction and manufacturing. Construction alone has lost 2,500 jobs (2008).  

Wyoming- Wyoming has a lower percentage of unemployment because it has a lot of job opportunities and not many people that work there live there (they travel). So this would make the unemployment low because Wyoming is a state for work and not for living in. Wyoming has industries which help to provide jobs for people such as mineral extraction, tourism, agriculture and rural jobs. The unemployment rate has dropped to 3.7% (2014) which is similar to 2008. 

Idaho- In Idaho there was a lot of 'help wanted' signs (2008) which indicates that there wasn't a shortage of jobs, so this is why the unemployment rate is so low. Idaho has an unemployment rate of 4.7 (2014) and is ranked 11. Another factor to the low percentage of unemployment is that the wages are low, so employers can hire more people which makes the unemployment rate low because more people have jobs. 

Iowa- Iowa has a low percentage of unemployment because although it has a huge agriculture industry, it also has jobs in manufacturing, finance, insurance and government services. These different industries have helped to keep the unemployment percentage down because they offer many job opportunities to people. Iowa has an unemployment rate of 6.8% (2012). 

Nebraska- Nebraska has the lowest unemployment percentage of 2009. In 2010 the percentage was 4.8%- still very low! Hellbusch (a man who lives and works in Nebraska) says, "Everybody's got a job". This shows that people who are trying to hire others are really struggling because very few people are not employed. Also, it is common for people to hold multiple jobs, which would mean that if someone lost their job, then they would have a back-up so they wouldn't be unemployed. 

So analysing the map i have noticed that the built up areas have resources already due to the land, whereas the areas which have the least resources already (middle of U.S- The bread-basket) and this makes a difference to the unemployment. Because in places where the unemployment was low was areas where people had to work more in order to get the resources that they needed to live, as they live in rural areas. So more people would get work plus less people live in those areas too, so there is naturally less competition for jobs. But people in the cities and areas where the land is already in perfect living condition means less people need to work in order to get the resources needed to live. And this is a problem because there are a lot more people in the areas which need the least amount of jobs. 

What's also interesting is that the higher percentage of unemployment is along the West Coast, which is also where the most wealthy people in the country are too. 

Agriculture industries seem to offer more jobs, which matches the demographic map because it shows that. Every state has had job losses but some states were better off because they had the right industries, natural resources and skilled workers.    

Sources:

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