Better And Better

If you don't draw yours, I won't draw mine. A police officer, working in the small town that he lives in, focusing on family and shooting and coffee, and occasionally putting some people in jail.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Y'all might've gotten your wires crossed.

Some dude named Samuel Weigley wrote a nice little list story (people love lists) about where the economy is bestest, regarding employment. Problem is, he tried to flesh out why these places are lowest in the unemployment figures. He lists Midland, TX as the metropolitan area with the sixth lowest rate of unemployment in the nation, and explains it thus:
> Oct. 2012 unemployment rate: 3.3% (tied for 6th)> Total population:140,308> Median household income: $54,330In October Midland’s unemployment rate was just 3.3% — exactly half the 6.6% unemployment rate in the state. This is a solid improvement from 12 months prior, when Midland already had the eighth-lowest unemployment rate in the country, at just 4.1%. According to the BLS, the mining, logging and construction industry was the top employment sector in the metropolitan area as of October, growing 6.3% from the prior year. In addition, Midland’s median household income of $54,330 in 2011 was nearly $5,000 higher than the median income of Texas.

 
 I can believe that construction would be going strong in the Midland-Odessa area. Although I'm surprised to hear of it, I won't discount the possibility of mining in or around Midland. But logging?

Here's a good representation of the miles and miles of miles and miles around Midland, TX:
Photo credit: AirPhotona.com
Oh, here's a shot of a stand of timber in Midland:
(Ripped from NOAA's site.)

Is it just that they haven't found any unemployed lumberjacks hanging out around Midland?


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7 Comments:

At Monday, December 10, 2012 4:11:00 PM, Blogger Alan said...

I think they classify oil production under mining.

I was just in Midland last week and it's hopping, hotels full and lots of help wanted signs, particularly for drivers.

Don't know that I'd call it a "metro" though.

 
At Monday, December 10, 2012 4:36:00 PM, Blogger Well Seasoned Fool said...

Maybe they are logging mesquite.

 
At Monday, December 10, 2012 5:48:00 PM, Blogger Keith said...

It's got to just be one big category, and it surely has to include oil in it.

 
At Tuesday, December 11, 2012 5:54:00 PM, Blogger Keith said...

Alan-
I can vaguely remember a few years back that Midland/Odessa put their differences aside to get the US geographic office to classify them as one metro area. All of the sudden when chain stores were looking for places to expand they saw a quarter million people without the benefit of single big box store and rushed to fill the void.

 
At Wednesday, December 12, 2012 8:06:00 AM, Blogger zdogk9 said...

Clear cutting will do that.

 
At Wednesday, December 12, 2012 9:48:00 PM, Blogger phlegmfatale said...

What Alan said - I was going to say they prolly just classify those industries together. But it's fun to think about. I wish someone would log the dense mesquite from my area.

 
At Wednesday, December 12, 2012 9:55:00 PM, Blogger Matt G said...

Uh, Zdogk9? That area is plains. There were no mesquite to speak of before overgrazing. Just miles and miles of grassland.

 

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