Best and Worst States

Worst State: Great California Exodus

2012-04-25T21:21:49Z

The Wall Street Journal published an op ed piece today by Joel Kotkin called "The Great California Exodus"

California for years has rated poorly on many fronts for business climate and taxation. Best and Worst States has a number of posts pointing out California shortcomings. The piece is noteworthy in that a "Truman Democrat" is stepping forward and stating the government centric regulatory environment of California is responsible for people now starting to leave in the millions. According to the article, government is the fastest growing entity and responsible for over 4 million people leaving California over the last two decades. We could not agree more.

Job Openings by State May 2010: Up 7.6% Under Obama

2010-06-02T03:55:00Z

We have updated the Best States for Job Openings.

Since January of 2009 when President Obama took office, job openings by state as measured on Career Builder have increased 7.6% to 252,884 from 235,059. The U.S. unemployment rate stood at 9.9% in May of 2010 and 15.3 million people were unemployed. While the increase is encouraging, job openings must increase much more to make a dent in the high number of unemployed.

Thirty six states have seen increases in job openings under Obama while 14 states have seen decreases.

Of the ten largest states, 9 have shown increases in the number of job openings. Of these large states, North Carolina was the Best State for Job Openings on Careerbuilder. Job openings have increased 17.0% in North Carolina since Obama became President. Illinois was the only large state to show a decrease in job openings since January of 2009. Its job openings decreased 4.5%. California has the most job openings on Careerbuilder yet its unemployment at 12.6% is the second highest in the nation.

The list of best and worst states for job openings follows. Interestingly, some of the states with low unemployment such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Vermont have seen job openings shrink.

Best and Worst States for Job Openings 2010

Best States for Income

2010-05-04T06:23:00Z

The U.S.Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its rankings of personal income by state for 2009.

Personal income throughout the U.S. was down 1.7% in 2009. 44 states had declining incomes in 2009. 6 states saw an increase.

The Best State for Income Growth in 2009 was West Virginia with an increase 2.1%. Despite this growth West Virginia has the 44th lowest income in the U.S. at $32,219. It did improve from a 49th ranking in 2008.

The Worst State For Income Growth was Nevada with a decrease of 4.8%. Nevada with an income of $38,578 was ranked 20th in the U.S in personal income.

The Best State for Income in 2009 was Connecticut . It had the highest state income at $54,397. Additional Top States for Income were New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and New York .

The Worst State for Income was Mississippi . At $30,013, it has the lowest state income. Utah, Idaho, South Carolina and Kentucky were also Worst States for Income in 2009.

Income is only one factor in determining a Best State to Live. Cost of Living , quality of education and job openings and availability should also be considered.

State Ranking of Income 2009

The ranking of states by income follows:

Historic Shrink of Government? States May Have No Choice

2010-03-12T13:14:00Z

Smaller government fans may be in for a historic period. Due to severe budget crises, state governments throughout the U.S. are "cutting budgets" i.e. shrinking in size. Lack of money is forcing legislators, regardless of party affiliation, to shrink government spending. In many cases states can not just raise taxes and fees enough to close the gaps.

Georgia, for example, this week, announced its revenue had shrank for the 15th consecutive month. Revenue for February 2010 is a whopping 41.3% below February 2007. January was down 27.3% from 2007. Georgia legislators are faced with figuring out how to run the state on less money. They will be forced to shrink the size of government.

The Tax Foundation recently highlighted Georgia's budgetary issues in two releases, "Recession Offers Georgia Opportunity for Tax Reform" and Georgia Cigarette Tax Hike Would Spur Cross-Border, Black Market Sales

Georgia residents pay the 16^th-highest state-local tax burden in the country according to the Tax Foundation.

"There's just no way to put a pretty face on it," Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We've got to cut this budget and we have to live within our means." (Emphasis added)

Georgia Not Alone, All States are Cutting

Georgia is not alone in facing severe cuts.

John Thomasian of the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices outlined the environment and cuts facing state governments in his paper, The Big Reset: State Government after the Great Recession

He writes, "So how must state government adjust to meet the new challenges? Already governors are grappling with this issue. Almost every state has an internal process underway to examine how to cut costs, and several states have created formal task forces or commissions to look at cost- savings and streamlining. Most efforts start by exploring the traditional tools of budget cutting: targeted and across-the-board program cuts, reductions to local aid, layoffs, benefit cuts, furloughs, and salary reductions. In today’s environment, however, states quickly find that these options do not shift the cost curve sufficiently, and they must look at actions that change the way government does business.

Additional steps that are being considered or undertaken today include:

• Selling state assets (such as surplus equipment and state office buildings);

• Consolidating data centers and IT functions;

• Coordinating purchases across agencies;

• Consolidating state real estate management into one entity and conducting a review of
real estate holdings and leasing arrangement; and

• Reorganizing and combining agencies."

Profound Changes in State Government

Thomasian writes, "The current fiscal crisis has spawned a new round of state performance reviews, many of which will yield profound changes in the services state government delivers. This period of government downsizing and streamlining may be a protracted one, ending only when state budget health is restored. The delicate balance will be maintaining those services that help the state prosper, while eliminating those that produce the least value." (Emphasis added)

The challenge is that most of our legislators are reluctant to cut government programs. Segments of the voting community also want their favored programs protected. We may see a historic shrinking of state government if our legislators and voters reset budgets as circumstances dictate.

Those in favor of smaller government will be tested and have an opportunity to influence this process.

This "reset" of state government will affect all areas of lifestyle including education, jobs and safety. The big question yet to be answered is: "Will people be happier with a smaller state government that taxes less and provides less services?"

Check in Mail States Delay Tax Refunds

2010-03-07T20:14:00Z

Some states may delay paying tax refunds again this year. Taxpayers should call them the "Check In the Mail" States.

Last year Kansas, North Carolina, California and Missouri delayed tax refunds. Taxpayers were not happy about it. Tax refund delays are another sign of government mismanagement. In response to last years fiasco, Missouri state house legislators this week passed a bill that if enacted will shorten the time period that the state can withhold payment without interest. Missouri had to use stimulus money to pay its tax refunds. See: Missouri State House Approves Quicker Refunds .

This year New York, Kansas, Iowa and Hawaii have already announced they may have to delay payments. Taxpayers, who are entitled to refunds in these states, will unfortunately suffer.

Here are a few of the headlines and links to the state stories.

Hawaii will delay sending out tax refunds to balance budget

Hold It: Unpaid Parking tickets could delay Iowa tax refunds

NY Governor considers delays in paying tax refunds

Kansas: Shortfall may delay income tax refunds

Forbes recently published its "Special Report: The Global Debt Bomb." In one of its pieces, United States of Debt , it ranks states according to financial health. The metrics Forbes looked at for each state when building its ranking included unfunded pension liabilities, changes in tax revenue, credit agency ratings, debt as a percentage of Gross State Product, debt per capita, growth expectations for employment and the state economy, net migrations and a moocher ratio that compares government employees, pension burdens and Medicaid enrollees to private-sector employment.

The Worst States for Debt Trouble, according to Forbes, are Illinois, New York, Connecticut, California and New Jersey.

The States with the least Debt Problems are Utah, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia. All states have significantly lower debt per capita than the Worst States. The Best States also have lower unemployment than the U.S. average of 9.7% and lower than the Worst States with Debt Problems. The Best States for Jobs will typically have better government management of debt.

Forbes also ran an analysis that shows that the states with the Worst Debt and Financial Problems are blue states i.e. states controlled by Democrats. The piece attributed political unions and big spending by Democrats as the cause of the deepest fiscal holes.
See Political Litmus Test: Bluest States Spilling The Most Red Ink

Smoking States and Tobacco Producing States

2010-02-10T21:14:00Z

Smoking has been on a long term decline in the U.S.

Total smokers in the U.S. according to Americas Health Rankings Assessment on Smoking have declined from 29.5% in 1990 to 18.3% in 2009. Smokers as a per cent of the U.S. population have shrunk 38% since 1990.

Americas Health Rankings also does a great job in providing statistics for each of the states. Smoking trends by State have some interesting aspects not quickly seen by observing the data.

The Best and Worst States 2009 Smokers by State map highlights high smoking and low smoking states. It is listed below:

State Smoking Population Map

From the map it is readily apparent that the mid west and southern states have the strongest affinity for smoking.

The Best State for Non-Smokers, i.e. lowest smoking population, is Utah. Only 9.3% of the Utah population smokes. Additional Top States for Non-Smokers are California, New Jersey, Maryland and Hawaii.

The Best State for Smokers, i.e. the highest smoking population, is West Virginia with 26.5% of its population smokers. Over one in four people over 18 smoke in West Virginia. Additional Top States for Smokers are Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma. Nevada had the highest smoking population in 1990 at 35.7% according to Americas Health. Nevada's smoking population has since declined to 22.1%, a dramatic decline.

The entire 2009 list of Smokers by State is published below.

The populations of tobacco producing states are above average smokers. It seems logical. If a state produces lots of tobacco, its population is more likely to smoke. The chart of Top Producing Tobacco States supports this contention. North Carolina has the most tobacco acreage by far and ranks as the 14th highest smoking state. Kentucky, the 2nd largest tobacco producer, ranks 3 in the nation for highest per cent of its population being smokers. Virginia and Connecticut appear to be outliers. Virginia is the third largest producer yet its population ranks 40th in the nation for smoking. Connecticut is the 9th largest producer of tobacco yet its smoking population is 44th or ranked 7th lowest state for smokers. All the other Top Tobacco Producing States have above average smoking populations.

The Top Ten Tobacco Producing States are listed below along with their Smoker Rank.

Top Ten Tobacco Producing States

List of Smoking Population by State

If you consider smoking or non-smoking an important aspect of lifestyle, this info may help you find a state that fits your needs. It might help you determine your Best State to Live.

Becker Blocked: Blow to Unionism

2010-02-10T03:07:00Z

Craig Becker's nomination to the National Labor Relations Board was blocked by the Senate today. The vote was 52-33. Sixty votes were needed to pass his nomination. This is a blow to the Obama administration and the union movement as Becker was considered very pro union. Politico today reported that the battle may not be over as Democrats and union leaders will be pressing President Obama to make a recess appointment. See Senate Stops Craig Becker

Objection to Becker also stems from the opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act which if enacted would make it easier for unions to organize. Many senators are also concerned about the possible elimination of secret personal voting. If the Obama adminstration is committed to job growth, it might want to reconsider these positions. We have recently written on this. See Does Increased Unionism lead to more Unemployment?

Stay tuned the battle is not over. Just stalled for now.

State Unionism Rankings: Do Highly Unionized States have Higher Unemployment?

2010-02-07T21:16:00Z

Union employment in the U.S. continued to shrink this past year. Nationwide union participation stands at 12.3% which is a slight decline from 2008.

The BLS 2009 Annual Union Affiliation by Statesurvey was recently published. It has brought increased attention to the union movement. Union policy will further be in the spotlight this week as the Senate wrestles with the nomination of Craig Becker, a clearly pro-union candidate, to the National Labor Review Board. See GOP's Senate Gain Clouds Prospect of Obama's Labor Board Nominee. In view of this upcoming debate, we thought it would be helpful to take a deeper look at state unionization and employment.

Let's take a look at state unionization.

New York is the most unionized state in the nation with 27.2% of its population working for a union. More than 1 in four workers are represented by a union in New York. Hawaii at 24.3% is the second most unionized state at 24.3%, followed by Alaska at 23.6%. Washington, Michigan, and New Jersey are heavily unionized states with about 20% union participation rates.

The least unionized state is North Carolina at 4.4%. Only one in 23 workers in North Carolina are represented by a union, a sharp difference as compared to New York. Additional states with low union participation rates are Arkansas at 5.0%, Virginia at 5.4%, South Carolina at 5.4% and Georgia at 5.9%

Twenty seven states had decreased union participation in 2009 as compared with 2008. States with low union participation rates generally became less so in 2009 and those states with union growth were primarily already highly unionized. There are 22 states with right to work laws in the U.S. Right to work laws generally do not require employees to pay fees or join a union even if voted in.

A look at union participation and unemployment shows states with high union participation rates are closely associated with higher unemployment.

The five Worst States for Employment in 2009 were Michigan, Rhode Island, Nevada, California and South Carolina. All but South Carolina are highly unionized states. The Worst States for Employment in 2009 generally were highly unionized states.

Worst States for Employment and Union Participation

The Best States for Employment in 2009 were North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas. All but Iowa have unionparticipation rates below the U.S. average and would be classified asstates with low unionization. If you are looking for a job, look at states with low unionization. They tend to have less unemployment. See Best and Worst States for Jobs: Will Jobs Improve in 2010 for the rankings of all states by employment. The list of Best States for Employment and Union Participation follows:

Best States for Employment and Union Participation

The list of Unionism by State follows:

Unionism by State

Union membership has been in a long term decline since 1983 when BLS first started measuring it in a consistent way. Union participation was 20.1% of the working population in 1983. It is now approximately 40% lower at 12.3%. For the first time in 2009, the majority of union members now work for the government and not for private, for profit entities. These state workers are on average paid significantly more than private industry. Making it easier for government workers to unionize will only push labor costs higher and cost the taxpayers more. Political leaders should be trying to keep these costs in check. (The average federal worker's pay is $71,206 as compared to $40,331 in the private sector and is growing above inflation rates) The Obama administration's labor policy approach creates a conflict with its responsibilities to protect the taxpayer. Increased unionization will increase our cost of government. If the Obama administration is serious about job creation and deficit control, it may want to reconsider this approach. Unions and job creation generally do not have a positive correlation. Watch the news this week as it relates to Craig Becker. It will have implications for jobs and deficits.

Best States for Football Championships: Super Bowl Winners by State

2010-02-07T15:56:00Z

Congratulations go to New Orleans Saints for winning their first Super Bowl Championship.

New Orleans and the entire state of Louisiana will celebrate and have bragging rights all year long. Only 15 states have ever had the honor of being the home state of a Super Bowl Champion.

What States have the most Super Bowl Champions?

California has the honor of being the state with the most football Super Bowl Wins. Its teams have won 8 of the 44 completed Super Bowls. Two teams have contributed to California's rank as the Best State for Football Championships. The San Francisco 49ers have 5 wins and the Oakland Raiders have 3.

Pennsylvania is the second Best State for Football Championships with all 6 wins coming from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team with the most Super Bowl wins. Texas is ranked as the third Best State for Football Championships with 5 wins, all by the Dallas Cowboys.

The state list of Super Bowl Winners is below:

Super Bowl Champions by State

One Year Of Obama and Stimulus: Job Openings down 5.48% , Unemployment Up to 10%

2010-01-31T18:09:00Z

It has been one year since President Obama took office and announced a stimulus bill that was to improve jobs. The data suggests that the job market continued to deteriorate this past year. Unemployment is up to 10% from 7.4%. Job Openings are down 5.48%

Job Openings, as measured on careerbuilder.com, have not improved from one year ago. Nationwide, job openings at January 31, 2010 were 5.48% lower than January 29, 2009. Total job openings stand at 222,189 as compared to 235,059 last year, a decrease of 12,870. 37 States have lower job openings as compared to last year.

Best and Worst States has been tracking Job Openings by State for the past year and has reported on movements. For some of our previouslinks see November 2009, Job Stimulus Not Working , Job Openings September 2009 and last year's Best and Worst States for Job Openings January 2009. While the drops early in the year have appeared to stabilize, the level of job openings is not robust enough to suggest significant improvements in employment soon.

The Best State for Job Openings is Indiana as measured by growth. Indiana had the largest gain in job openings, 887, up 17.4% from a year ago. Best States for Jobs also were Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. Florida and Ohio were the best large states for job openings. They were the only 2 states of the Top Ten Employment States to show increases in openings. 13 States had increases in job openings from a year ago.

The Worst State for Jobs was California. It has 3,667 less job openings from a year ago, a decrease of 14.18%. California also has the fourth worst employment rate in the nation. Unemployment in California is now at 12.4%, up 3.7% from a year ago. California is struggling on many fronts and an increasing jobless population will not help it turn around. For more on California see California Jobs Shrinking

Additional Worst States for Jobs are Texas, Illinois,Massachusetts and Arizona. They each had large job opening losses and double digit declines in percentage terms.

Another measure of job openings, the Conference Board's Help Wanted On-Line Data Series is also indicating year over year decreases in job openings. The Conference Board Data for 2009 annual average job openings stands at 3,357,000, 1.1million below the 4,481,000 annual average for 2008. More importantly their average job opening number for 2009 is 2.4 million below the 2007 average job opening number. These are not good numbers. On an encouraging note,the Conference Board reported positive improvement in job openings in New York, Washington, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Delaware and New Jersey.

All 50 states saw their unemployment rates increase in 2009. See Unemployment by State 2009 for the entire 2009 list and unemployment changes from a year ago. Job openings must increase significantly nationwide if unemployment is to improve to acceptable levels. It is going to take some time for this to occur.

Job Openings by State January 2010

	Largest State California Continues to Show Shrinking Job Openings Texas Jobs Not Growing Florida Shows Small Increase Illinois Jobs Down 10.64% 37 States Have Fewer Job Openings 2 of 10 Largest States Show Small Increase Indiana Best State for Job Opening Growth Job Openings Do Not Suggest Employment Improvements

Best and Worst States to Move To

2010-01-25T01:29:00Z

What states are people moving to? Economists would say that you can learn a lot from people "voting with their feet." They leave states for many reasons: economic opportunity, lower taxes, weather, cost of living etc.

The 2009 Allied Van Lines 42nd Annual Magnet States Report is an useful report in understanding where people are moving to. There are some changes from last year that would suggest the economy has influenced people's moving decisions.

Texas was the Best State to Move To in 2009. It had the most net people moves in the US, over three times more than any other state. It was also the most popular state to move to in 2008. Arizona and North Carolina, which was ranked 2 in 2008, were also popular states to move to. They were very close in net moves being separated by only 2 moves according to Allied Van Lines.

According to the annual magnet report, the Best States to Move To in 2009 were Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Colorado and Florida.

The Worst States to Move To in 2009 were Michigan, Illinois,Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California. New York is also an unpopular state to move to. Both Illinois and New York have now lost population, according to the Allied study, for 33 straight years!! California lost people in 2009. Its 12.4% unemployment rate may have had something to do with this exodus. See also Taxpayers Leave New York and People Choose Best States to Live with their Feet

It should also be noted that this survey is not a definitive migration study. Florida, for example according to the Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research, lost population in 2009 for the first time in 63 years. This is at odds with the Allied stats. See

Is Florida the Best Place to Retire? Population is shrinking

Political leaders in states where people are leaving should take note. When people leave a state, something is not working for them in that state.

Best and Worst States for Jobs: Will jobs improve in 2010?

2010-01-22T20:06:00Z

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released state unemployment for December 2009 today. Every state in the U.S. saw its unemployment rate rise in 2009.

The Best State for Jobs and Employment in 2009 was North Dakota. It had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 4.4%. Its unemployment rate increased by 1.1% in 2009. South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas were also Top States for Jobs and Employment.

The Worst State for Jobs and Employment in 2009 was Michigan. Its unemployment ended the year at 14.6%, an increase of 4.4% in 2009. 21 states and D.C. saw their unemployment ranks increase by 3% or more in 2009. 2009 was a very bad year for those seeking employment. Nevada, Rhode Island, South Carolina, California and D.C. all were Worst States for Jobs and Unemployment in 2009. They all have unemployment rates of 12% or higher.

Minnesota and North Dakota had the smallest unemployment increases in 2009 with increases of only 0.8%. The Worst States for Unemployment Increases were West Virginia and Nevada which had increases of 4.6% in unemployment. The list of Best and Worst States for Jobs and Employment is below. It is presented from best to worst based on year over year changes. Politically, these are very poor numbers for the Obama administration. With the large health care bill off the table for now, let's hope businesses will become a little more willing to hire in 2010.

Best and Worst States for Jobs

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Health Care Stopped!!! Jobs will be front and center.

2010-01-21T18:21:00Z

The massive health care bill fiasco is over. Speaker Nancy Pelosi today told the world "In its present form without any changes I don't think it's possible to pass the Senate bill in the House." Health care as sold by the Democrats is over. She further commented on next steps with an insightful, "We're not in a big rush."

When we posted the results of the first poll showing Scott Brown in the lead on January 10, the mainstream media still was not ready to get behind the idea of a possible Brown victory in Massachusetts. It was not until mid-week when some more traditional polling organizations showed similar race tightness that the media explosion took off. The Massachusetts vote became a national referendum on President Obama and his policies.

While the bill was unpopular with the majority of Americans and swept in Brown, it was also unpopular with many state legislatures and governors. They viewed it as a major usurpation of states rights. More importantly, it was filled with unfunded mandates that would put even more pressures on state's budgets. Look for the Democrats and Republicans now to quickly change the focus to jobs. Let's hope they do no more harm to a tepid recovery.

The Department of Labor reported an increase in jobless claims today. The 4 week average of jobless claims for week ending January 16, 2010 was 448,250. Last year the 4 week average was 526,500, a reduction of 78,250 from a year ago. While there is talk of improvement in the jobs market, the data supporting such a claim is sketchy. The 14.8% reduction in claims from a year ago, while positive, is still a very high number from historical perspectives. It is associated with very poor labor environments. With health care dead, businesses will have one less risk and expense wildcard to deal with. It will be a while before the job engine gets going.

The BLS will publish year end state unemployment rates for 2009 tomorrow. Check back for the list of Best States for Jobs in 2009.

Source: Department of Labor 2010

Health Care Bill Stopper? Brown Leads Massachusetts Senate Race

2010-01-10T13:52:00Z

A poll released last night by Public Policy Polling shows Republican Scott Brown leading Democrat Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate Race by the narrowest of margins, 48% to 47%.

This race is particularly important as Brown's election would have profound implications. It would alter the filibuster control that Democrats have in the U.S. Senate. Brown would become the 41st Republican vote. It could also completely derail the Democrats' unpopular health care bill should it not be passed by the time he were to take office.

The election will be held in just 9 days on Tuesday January 19.

Brown's favorables, according to Public Policy Polling, are quite high with a +32 favorability spread, 57/25. Among independents, who will make the difference in this race, Brown's favorability spread is a whopping 54% at 70/16. Independents in Massachusetts oppose the Democrat health care bill 59% to 27% according to the Public Policy Poll. This is clearly helping Brown as he opposes the health care plan and Coakley supports it. Brown's favorables are higher than than those of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell when he won the Virginia race by 17%. McDonnell's favorables were +20 in the final poll before the election last November. There is still a long week ahead in this Massachusetts contest.

Photo Source: Boston Herald

This race has implications for every person living in every state as it could mean the difference in the health care bill, tax rates and federal legislation for 2010. Because of this expect a lot of action this week. Both national parties will get into the act with resources and the last 9 days of this race should be a brawl. If you are for or against health care legislation, this race is important to you.

For more info on each candidate go to their websites: www.brownforussenate.com and www.marthacoakley.com

Best States for Sunshine

2010-01-04T05:01:00Z

Sunshine is an under appreciated dimension when thinking about where to live. It can improve your health and happiness. Yet rarely do we hear people say they picked a state for its sunshine. They think more about weather temperature, jobs, taxes, cost of living etc. Sunny states generally qualify as Best States for Retirement and are Happy States according to recent happiness studies.

The Best States for Sunshine are Arizona and Nevada. Phoenix and Las Vegas each have 310 sunny days a year or 85% sunshine.

The Top 5 States for Sunshine, in addition to Arizona and Nevada, are California, New Mexico and Hawaii. Florida, the Sunshine State, is ranked 7th of all states.

The Worst State for Sunshine is Alaska with only 41% sunny days. Anchorage has only 150 days a year of sunshine half of Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The 5 Worst States for Sunshine are Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Vermont and Ohio. All 5 states have sun less than 50% of the time.
The List of Sunshine for all U.S. States is published below.

Rankings of Sunshine by State

If you are considering what are the Best States for Weather, study the Best States for Sunshine. You may just end up with happier choices.

Does Increased Spending on Higher Education lead to Better State University Rankings?

2010-01-03T05:13:00Z

I thought you would find the rankings of state higher education spending and state university rankings useful. Intuitively one would believe that states that spend more would have better ranked universities. Higher State spending does not mean it is a Best State for Education. Lower State spending does not mean it is a Worst State for Education. A closer look is warranted.

Utah spends the most of its state budget on higher education at 15.5%. Its University of Utah is ranked 126 according to U.S. News 2009 College Ratings. New York spends the least of all states on higher education with only 5.4% of its budget yet its highest rated public school SUNY-Binghamton is ranked higher than Utah at 80. North Dakota is a close second in spending at 15.4% and its university's state ranking in education is Tier III. Tier III means it is ranked in the 50-75% of all national universities i.e. below average. 7 of the 10 lowest spending states on higher education have higher university rankings than high spending North Dakota. North Dakota does not get much bang for its buck.

High Spending States on Higher Education and University Rankings

North Carolina is third highest ranked state on higher education spending at 14.2% and has the highest rated public university of the high spending states with a rank of 28. This appears to be a positive spend to school rank association. Yet neighboring Georgia with a spend of 7.6% has its Georgia Institute of Technology rated 35. Georgia Institute of Technology is higher than every high spend state ranking other than North Carolina.

Alaska is the second lowest higher education spending ranked state at 6.1% and appears to get what it pays for. Its school is rated a bottom 25% Tier IV by U.S. News. Florida is the third lowest state in spend at 6.3% and appears to get very good returns with the University of Florida rated 47, higher than every high spend state other than North Carolina.

States with the lowest spending on higher education are primarily in the Northeast. 7 of the lowest 10 states are from the Northeast. They are, in addition to New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maine. Yet 4 of the states, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut have higher ranked schools than every high spend state other than North Carolina.

Low Spending States on Higher Education and University Rankings

Source: Tax Foundation

and US News and World Reports

We have reported previously on education spending and test results. See Does Spending More on Education Work?

and Graduation Rates, SAT Scores and Educational Spending

A simple thesis that more spending on education leads to better results continues to be elusive. Be wary of political leaders who say that they are managing your education system better by spending more money. Check the results.

Job Stimulus Not Working: Best States for Jobs 2009

2009-12-02T05:19:00Z

Job Openings continued their year long decline in November.

Only 3 States show job opening increases since January 29 at the beginning of the Obama Administration. The Best States for Jobs are Indiana, Kentucky and Idaho as they are the only states that have more job openings than at the end of January. Yet despite these increases, unemployment continues to rise. Indiana's unemployment rate has increased this year to 9.8% from 8.2% in January. Kentucky has increased to 11.2% from 8.7%. Idaho has seen its unemployment rate increase to 9.0% from 6.5% in January. Job openings are not keeping up with job losses.

The Worst States for Jobs are many. 47 states have lower job openings posted on careerbuilder.com than in January.

California Jobs have decreased the most since January with 4,764 fewer openings. Texas has 3,138 fewer jobs and Illinois Jobs have also decreased by 2,742.

Nationwide, job openings have dropped 13.01% since January. There were 204,475 job openings on careerbuilder.com at the end of November 2009 as compared to 235,059 in January. This is an important indicator for employment direction as job openings precede employment. Employers are not creating enough new jobs to keep up with the pace of losses. The US had 15.7 million unemployed people in October 2009 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many more job openings must emerge to improve the unemployment rate.

The Wall Street Journal today also ran a piece on upcoming job cuts. It sees cuts increasing in 2010 as stimulus money is running out on certain construction infrastructure jobs. Nationwide construction industry unemployment is now a staggering 19.1% and looks to get worse. See Job Cuts Loom as Stimulus Fades

The stimulus program is showing few signs of progress on the job front. Expect rising unemployment over the coming months because job openings are weak and the short term bump from the stimulus fades. Private sector jobs are the key for long term employment improvement. The List of Job Openings by State follows.

Job Openings by State

	State	11/30/09	1/29/09	+/-	% Change
1	California	21,091	25,855	-4,764	-18.43%
2	Texas	16,913	20,051	-3,138	-15.65%
3	Florida	13,263	15,174	-1,911	-12.59%
4	New York	11,702	13,057	-1,355	-10.38%
5	Illinois	10,960	13,702	-2,742	-20.01%
6	Pennsylvania	10,222	11,141	-919	-8.25%
7	Ohio	7,694	8,276	-582	-7.03%
8	New Jersey	7,421	8,628	-1,207	-13.99%
9	Virginia	6,385	7,186	-801	-11.15%
10	North Carolina	6,370	6,803	-433	-6.36%
11	Georgia	5,600	5,992	-392	-6.54%
12	Maryland	5,474	6,552	-1,078	-16.45%
13	Michigan	5,419	5,541	-122	-2.20%
14	Massachusetts	5,208	6,168	-960	-15.56%
15	Indiana	5,143	4,731	412	8.71%
16	Arizona	5,014	5,992	-978	-16.32%
17	Tennessee	4,214	4,413	-199	-4.51%
18	Washington	4,187	4,914	-727	-14.79%
19	Missouri	4,154	4,458	-304	-6.82%
20	Connecticut	3,895	4,531	-636	-14.04%
21	Wisconsin	3,736	4,314	-578	-13.40%
22	Minnesota	3,487	4,193	-706	-16.84%
23	Colorado	3,485	4,214	-729	-17.30%
24	Kentucky	3,005	2,763	242	8.76%
25	South Carolina	2,946	3,136	-190	-6.06%
26	Kansas	2,669	3,236	-567	-17.52%
27	Louisiana	2,643	3,494	-851	-24.36%
28	Alabama	2,132	2,567	-435	-16.95%
29	Iowa	2,028	2,499	-471	-18.85%
30	Oregon	1,770	1,832	-62	-3.38%
31	Oklahoma	1,676	2,269	-593	-26.13%
32	Nevada	1,661	1,865	-204	-10.94%
33	Mississippi	1,357	1,548	-191	-12.34%
34	New Mexico	1,242	1,423	-181	-12.72%
35	Utah	1,141	1,236	-95	-7.69%
36	Arkansas	1,121	1,414	-293	-20.72%
37	Nebraska	981	1,230	-249	-20.24%
38	Delaware	889	1,057	-168	-15.89%
39	West Virginia	754	856	-102	-11.92%
40	Idaho	739	665	74	11.13%
41	Hawaii	656	865	-209	-24.16%
42	New Hampshire	593	694	-101	-14.55%
43	Rhode Island	593	707	-114	-16.12%
44	Alaska	509	805	-296	-36.77%
45	Vermont	499	659	-160	-24.28%
46	South Dakota	452	585	-133	-22.74%
47	Maine	424	449	-25	-5.57%
48	Montana	392	508	-116	-22.83%
49	Wyoming	286	373	-87	-23.32%
50	North Dakota	280	438	-158	-36.07%
	Entire U.S.	204,475	235,059	-30,584	-13.01%
	Source:		Careerbuilder.com
			www.bestandworststates.com

Best Turkey States

2009-11-26T13:12:00Z

Minnesota is the Best Turkey State in the U.S. It produces the most turkeys in the country.

The Top Turkey States in the nation are in order: Minnesota, North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas and Indiana.

We will consume an estimated 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving which represents about one fifth of the annual U.S. turkey consumption. The average annual consumption per capita in the U.S. is 13.8 lbs.

For the third quarter of 2009, U.S. turkey production was 1.42 billion lbs., down 9.7% from a year earlier, according to the most recent Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook from the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. A slight increase in turkey production is expected in 2010 over 2009.

Where are the Best Tasting Turkeys in the U.S.?

Answer: At home of course.

Happy Thanksgiving.

States running out of Jobless Money, Taxing Employers More

2009-11-24T21:37:00Z

23 States are now borrowing from the U.S. Government to pay for unemployment benefits. (California has borrowed $4.5 billion as of mid October 2009, the most in the nation.)

This is only the beginning of the bad news for states and employers. States will be borrowing more and taxing employers more in 2010. This will impact the willingness of companies to hire in the future. This is not good news for the job market.

For example, Florida, which has borrowed $465 million as of mid October, this past week increased its unemployment insurance tax on employers for next year quite substantially. The minimum tax will jump from $8.40 per employee to $100.30 - analmost 12-fold increase - while the maximum will go up from $378 peremployee to $459. Florida is facing a multitude of issues as it tries to dig itself out of the faltering economy. The Sun-Sentinel did a great piece this week highlighting how Florida is losing residents, jobs and borrowing $300 million per month to make unemployment payments. See Shrinking Florida faces tough choices as residents flee, jobs vanish

Arizona is among 33 states that will increase unemployment compensationtaxes next year, according the National Association of State WorkforceAgencies. See State tax push makes U.S. firms wary of adding jobs

Arizona recently asked to borrow $600 million in federal funds to keep its jobless payments going. With its October 2009 unemployment rate of 9.3% Arizona will be needing to raise taxes on employers as well. It is currently estimated that Arizona will increase its tax 41.8% on employers in January 2010. See Arizona jobless funds running out

Most states will announce their unemployment tax rates for 2010 before year end and taxes will be increasing. This is bad news for employers and the outlook for jobs. The Heritage Foundation's Foundry blog recently posted a good explanation on how these increases will further hurt the job market. See How Unemployment Taxes and Obama’s Stimulus Are Killing Jobs

The List of States Borrowing To Pay Unemployment Benefits follows. We added Arizona to the BLS list that was compiled as of October 19, 2009.

Rank	State	Fed Loan
1	California	$4.5 billion
2	Michigan	$2.8 billion
3	New York	$1.6 billion
4	Ohio	$1.4 billion
5	North Carolina	$1.3 billion
6	Pennsylvania	$1.3 billion
7	Indiana	$1.3 billion
8	New Jersey	$700 million
9	Texas	$697 million
10	Wisconsin	$684 million
11	Arizona	$600 million
12	Illinois	$590 million
13	South Carolina	$570 million
14	Kentucky	$469 million
15	Florida	$465 million
16	Missouri	$326 million
17	South Dakota	$308 million
18	Minnesota	$143 million
19	Arkansas	$135 million
20	Rhode Island	$104 million
21	Idaho	$73 million
22	Alabama	$47 million
23	Connecticut	$31 million

Source:Bureau of Labor Statistics

Trustworthy States: Best States to Lose Your Wallet

2009-11-07T03:53:00Z

Gallup recently released a poll on Best States to Lose Your Wallet

With unemployment rising and economic stress increasing, the trust we have in our neighbors and community is of increasing concern. We want to live in a Safe States as they are Best States to Live. The poll asked people if they believed a lost wallet with $200 in would be returned. Nationwide 70% of people believe that their wallet would be returned with money still in the wallet. Large States according to Gallup are generally viewed as less trustworthy. People in the Southern half of the country do not trust their neighbors as much as people in the North. See Gallup's map below.

The Best States for Neighbor Trust are:

The Worst States for Neighbor Trust are:

People in the South do not trust their neighbors as much as the North according to Gallup. Chart courtesy of Gallup.

When picking your place to live consider your neighbors. Safe States are Best States to Retire and are Top States to Live