In the current economic climate, it seems that lower population equates to better employment rates, at least according to this graphic we found over at visual.ly.
According to the graphic, North Dakota has the lowest unemployment at 3.6% – now imagine if that was the country wide rate… Obama would win re-election in a landslide. Other states on the list include Iowa, Minnesota, Wyoming, Kansas, Hawaii, Vermont, New Hampshire, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Source: Best Therapy Degrees
This raises an interesting question in my mind. Is there something about urbanization that necessarily leads to higher unemployment? Maybe economies of scale support more people while requiring less labor? I don’t really know the answer but it is interesting to ask.
Could the solution to the unemployment crisis come down to encouraging decentralization and less urbanization? Maybe a local foods movement that supports people’s efforts to become small, local farmers?
Just thinking out loud here, but there’s no denying the obvious: high unemployment seems correlated with population density.
Most of those states are farm states and agricultural prices are at or near record highs.