Breaking down the numbers: Unemployment

This map from The New York Times offers some interesting numbers. A county-by-county breakdown of unemployment across the nation, it makes it clear that some areas — parts of California, Michigan and New England, for instance — are getting slammed much harder by the recession than others.

It also offers a snapshot of what is happening locally. According to the map, the Central Jersey region — the seven New Jersey counties covered by our papers — have faired better than some others in the state. Here is what the numbers show:
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What is clear from the chart is that this area is doing better than the rest of the state, which is suffering with a 7.1 percent unemployment rate. The picture in the southern counties of Atlantic (9.6), Cape May (12.4) and Cumberland (10.4) is particularly bad.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet