Job losses map
 

Slate put together this map of job gains and losses based on the county by county information from the Labor Department - this is some really scary stuff, but I've never seen the raw numbers placed by geographical area before. Texas seems to be doing okay but the total collapse of jobs in the Michigan area is brutal. Just press the green play button to get it going, month by month.

http://www.slate.com/id/2216238/

Wow. An incredible visual.

It looks like a theoretical model of some kind of virus breaking out from 2008 on.

There are certain parts of MI that we figure actual unemployment is around 20%.

The thing I can't figure out is whether it's relative to the number of jobs lost a year prior or relative to the unemployment rate a year prior.

Would make a difference as far as just how scary the Michigan meltdown really is.

That wouldn't surprise me in the least. And replace Michigan with any state in the rust belt starting in Illinois and going east. People who haven't visited the area cannot possibly visualize and have no idea. There are whole areas of decent sized cities that are just dead.

SI

wow

wow is right.

that'll make you glad you still have a job (presuming of course that you still have a job)

That seems pretty straight-forward to me. It is number of jobs compared to the same month in the earlier year.

I couldn't help but notice that the map for north Georgia turned from blue to darkening red between August 08 & September 08. Among the events in that time frame? The nomination of Presidential candidates.

Scary, but a nice job by Slate.

:lol:

Obama took our jobs.

Notice he's turning the map RED? Clearly, Obama is a communist.

Or a closet Republican

SI

Nah, just the loss of confidence in preventing a socialist takeover. Obama is a symptom, he's not the entire disease.

It reminds me of the alien invasion or disaster movies where they show the areas that have been taken out and what's going to be taken out next.

Love it

"General, for some reason, they're going after Michigan."
"Great, we'll take advantage of that pointless distraction to get our fighter planes in the air and wipe them out!"

SI

Holy crap at the LA figures for the last 2 months. I assumed everywhere was being hit as bad as we were, but I guess not. I'm even more grateful to still be in a job looking at that...

Yow.

Good News: I'm still a student

Bad News: In a year and a month, I won't be anymore. Hopefully we can get this turned around.