From what I have been told by younger (college
age) citizens of Winona is that there are no jobs out there that pay
enough. I think once the students have either a degree from VoTech or
college their options open up. But in the meantime they cannot make it on the
wages paid by fast food places or retail. I would be interested to know
how many college graduates stay in Winona. I am thinking very few. Someone
with a college/ vo-tech degree can find better paying jobs in Rochester,
LaCrosse or even further away.
Thus, our loss of population too.
Linda Fort
[Winona Online Democracy]
Kathy and WOD,
I look at the numbers that Kathy Seifert shared and I
see a different conclusion than her statement "Winona's
unemployment rate has been less than or equal to the average for MN for the
past 4 years."
If I'm reading the table right it looks as though
Winona's rate has been HIGHER than or equal to MN for the last four years, but
always lower than the US average. Or put another way, Winona is slightly
better off than the US as a whole but slightly worse off than MN as a
whole. Perhaps Kathy meant to say Winona's rate has been "worse"
rather than "less".
Phil Carlson, Mpls
-------------------------
| Unemployment |
Comparative Rates |
| Year |
Month |
Labor Force |
Employment |
Number |
Rate |
MN |
US |
| 2003 |
AnnAvg |
15,726 |
14,827 |
899 |
5.7%
|
5.0%
|
6.0% |
| 2002 |
AnnAvg |
15,384 |
14,701 |
683 |
4.4% |
4.4% |
5.8% |
| 2001 |
AnnAvg |
15,804 |
15,110 |
694 |
4.4% |
3.7% |
4.7% |
| 2000 |
AnnAvg |
15,597 |
15,012 |
585 |
3.8% |
3.3% |
4.0% |
From the looks of this data, it seems that
Winona's unemployment rate has been less than or equal to the average for MN
for the past 4 years. Our labor force took a dive in 2002 and the
number of jobs also fell. As Eric reported, the number of jobs had
risen again between 2002 and 2003, but the rate of growth of the labor force
has exceeded the jobs growth resulting in a net unemployment increase.
It looks like the figures for September of 2004 reflect a leveling out of
this again and an unemplyment rate of 4.4% with a labor force of 15,343
and 14,661 jobs. It seems we still have not recovered all of the jobs
lost since the recession. I don't point this out to assign blame, but
only to provide facts.
I think that it is positive that Winona is
around the average for the state and above average for the nation in
employment. It would be interesting to know what kind of jobs (i.e.,
manufacturing, professional, retail, etc.) there are and if and how these
may have changed over time.
So this is one way of evaluating Winona
economically. We seem to be doing about average--I am satisfied
with that, but is it possible for us to be better?. What other ways do
folks know of to assess our community well-being? What do City or
County officials think about this data? What data do you all use to
evaluate our community's vitality and make decisions on our
behalf?
Kathy Seifert
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