This time, Milwaukee didn't take the #1 spot on the list, but it was close.
Milwaukee ranks at #2 among the nation's 50 largest cities in unemployment rates.
Only Detroit, with its struggling auto industry, topped Milwaukee.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Among the 50 largest U.S. cities, only Detroit had a higher unemployment rate than Milwaukee in August, according to a new study at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"It's a serious indicator that we need to take some notice of," said Marc Levine, a professor of history and director of the Center for Economic Development, which takes a monthly look at Bureau of Labor Statistics data for Milwaukee and 49 other cities.
Based on household surveys, 8% of Milwaukee's residents working or seeking work said they couldn't find a job in August. Only Detroit, at 15.1% unemployment, was worse off. And all but 10 of the 50 cities had unemployment rates of less than 6% in August.
The August unemployment rate is the narrowest snapshot Levine uses to compare employment conditions among the cities. Milwaukee also ranks in the bottom fourth in terms of employment growth in the last 12 months, the last 36 months and the last 84 months.
Levine said employment has been growing in Milwaukee. The number of Milwaukee residents who said they were working in August reached the highest point since August 2002, when the city's unemployment rate was 8.4%.
Still, Milwaukee's employment has not been growing at the same pace as other big cities and could be slowing, Levine said. The latest increase in 12-month employment for Milwaukee, 0.28%, is the smallest this year, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Besides that, Levine said, Milwaukee's rank among the 50 cities has suffered a long decline. Previous research by the center showed Milwaukee with the 16th lowest unemployment rate in 1992.
"Since 2000, we've dropped from - not a great place - 40th, to next-to-last," Levine said. "I guess fortunately for us there's a lot of space between us and Detroit."
Levine takes a page from the Mayor Tom Barrett playbook: Always look for that silver lining.
When in doubt, spin. Then spin some more.
Compared with other large cities, Milwaukee has a low rate of college-educated residents and a high degree of segregation, which places central-city job-seekers away from suburban job growth, Levine said.
He advocates public investments in job creation through huge, "big bang" infrastructure projects as the best way to revive Milwaukee's employment market.
He's an advocate for New Deal redux.
"Milwaukee has some unique challenges," said William Jenkins, president of Milwaukee Job Development, a nonprofit employment agency.
Since January 2006, Milwaukee Job Development has placed nearly 500 workers, about one in five with a criminal record.
Through some philanthropic support and state grants of federal labor money - including $500,000 this year - the agency has focused on developing relationships with employers, more than 80 of whom have agreed to work with Milwaukee Job Development to place job-seekers, Jenkins said. Through August, almost 80% of those placed in jobs had remained at least 120 days.
Woo hoo!
Almost 80% have stuck with their jobs for at least 120 days!
How very stick-to-it-ive!
What a work ethic!
..."It's a slow and heavy-lifting and labor-intensive effort. And it's complex," Jenkins said.
Levine said efforts such as Jenkins' can have an impact, but probably not enough to "move the needle" on Milwaukee's employment standing.
"The private market here isn't creating a sufficient number of jobs," Levine said. "And we have all sorts of other structural impediments for central city residents to get access to the jobs that are being created."
In other words, capitalism is failing and Milwaukee needs streetcars.
I disagree with that assessment. Those are not the reasons for the city's dismal ranking.
The problem is Milwaukee and Wisconsin leaders have fostered a climate that's hostile to the private market.
Social dysfunction has been allowed to flourish. Family structure has disintegrated. Educational opportunities are rejected for the thug culture. Neighborhoods have deteriorated into war zones. Crime has sky-rocketed.
And the answer to these problems is always more taxes.
The result: Buh-bye businesses. Buh-bye jobs.
But, hey, give streetcars a chance.
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