October 2009

  • Jacksonville Employment Outlook

    By dubayns on 10/30/09 2:59pm
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    Jacksonville Florida has had a higher than average unemployment rate during the recession.  Not too much higher than average, 10.5% to be exact, but it hasn’t really found a light at the end of the tunnel just yet.  The biggest declining sector was construction, spurred by the bursting of the real estate bubble.  Some of the sectors that have done the best under the pressure of the recession are the education and health services sectors.  These two sectors have only grown by a meager 0.9%, but growing none the less.  Jacksonville does not seem like the kind of place that will snap back quickly from the recession, since many of its major employers are industry employment losers nationwide.

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  • Retail and Service Jobs Hit Hard by Recession

    By dubayns on 10/15/09 11:55pm
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    Excellent Customer ServiceExcellent Customer Service

    If you’ve even worked retail you know that salespeople can go a long way in influencing a purchase or even in helping customers decide how much money to spend on a product or service.  Since the beginning of the recession, people have been more and more reluctant to spend their money on products and services that are not completely necessary.  This behavior is natural, and to be expected of a population that has been flung head first into the largest economic hiccup since the Great Depression.  There is little wonder why economic microcosms like Las Vegas have seen some of the highest unemployment levels ever.  Nevada’s unemployment rate ranks second in the nation, at over 13%.  Both Reno and Las Vegas have been hit hard by these tough times.

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  • Unemployment and the Healthcare Industry

    By dubayns on 10/15/09 11:37pm
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    Doctors and NursesDoctors and Nurses

    Without a doubt, one of the most secure sectors for employment is the healthcare industry.  The US has more healthcare professionals working inside its borders than many other European countries combined.  Human beings will always be breaking in one way or another, and society will always need professionals to put them back together again.  There are so many different occupations inside the health care industry; it’s tough to really pin down one or two in order to accurately represent the entire industry or even a single sector.

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  • Lawyers, Insurance Industry Professionals, and Accountants: What Do These People Have In Common?

    By dubayns on 10/15/09 11:20pm
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    Legal SysyemLegal SysyemThere will never be a shortage of lawyers.  It’s just a byproduct of a hyper-litigious society.  Even during the world’s most massive recession in nearly two generations, lawyers and legal assistants are in demand.  As companies are looking to squeeze every last penny out of a contract or begin to really audit and go through their payroll and books with a fine-tooth comb, lawyers will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to jump into the fray at a moment’s notice.  Even as the government expands, more and more lawyers are needed to settle more frequent disputes between businesses, the government, and individuals.

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  • Industries that Have Remained Resilient in the Face of Economic Recession

    By dubayns on 10/15/09 10:39pm
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    Not all news regarding unemployment numbers and shrinking industry sectors is bad.  There have been a few sectors where unemployment has dropped since 2008 and others that have held steady in the midst of the economic turmoil and uncertainty.  Upon examining these industry sectors, one will find that an overarching theme begins to assert itself.  The theme is related to the idea that even during a massive recession there are a few key industries that are in such great demand that they are immune to the negative effects of the economic crisis.  Perhaps during this examination of these industries it will be easier to see why this is the case, and to begin to prepare yourself for the next recession by recession-proofing your skill sets and enhancing those characteristics and works experiences that employers are eager to find in employee candidates.

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  • Unemployment Data: An Ever-Changing Standard of Measurement

    By dubayns on 10/15/09 10:27pm
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    The current unemployment rate may be as high as 30% for non-farm workers in the US.  The official numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) state that nationally, it’s closer to 10%.  But if you take a look at the way the government measures unemployment, and how that scale has changed over the past half century, you will begin to see that the numbers coming out of the Government’s Bureau and the actual numbers are quite different.

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