The Importance of Education for Jobs

The state-level jobless rates and employment figures prove that while the United States is currently working on an economic recovery, things are still uneven around the country. Certain states are doing better with the recovery while other states are still lagging behind, not doing as well with this whole recovery process. For example, the state of Nevada is still dealing with a rather high unemployment rate of 11 percent but is actually less than 4 percent in the state of Nebraska. This is why it can generally be difficult to deal with such a recovery, as some states are still suffering while others have generally improved. The stimulus policy will need to work in favor of both Nebraska and Nevada, even though Nebraska is healthy right now and Nevada is still ailing. Some believe that focusing on helping people by improving their education would ultimately help with the employment figures.

Nearly three years ago, the vast majority of states in the United States had higher unemployment rates. In fact, only eight states had an unemployment rate that was less than 7 percent. However, by April of 2012, there are now 22 states with an unemployment rate that is actually less than 7 percent, which proves that the recovery process is, in fact, working. However, the economy still has its troubles and they are nowhere near being over just yet. There are areas in the country where the unemployment rate is finally at a reasonable level but that makes it harder for the other states, those with relatively high unemployment rates.

And, research shows that education is often one of the best ways to predict which areas will have the higher rates of unemployment. During the month of April, the 25 states that had the lowest amount of students dropping out from high school had a lower unemployment rate, mainly of about 6.3 percent. However, those with a higher rate of high school dropouts had a higher rate of unemployment overall. This shows that there is a major connection between unemployment rates and the level of education.

The connection between education and unemployment has remained true during the recession. Back in the month of October in 2009, the national unemployment rate was at its highest but those states with more educated people typically had a lower unemployment rate, mainly of about 8 percent. Areas such has California, Michigan, and North Carolina often experience higher levels of unemployment rates while certain areas such as Maryland and Virginia typically deal with less overall joblessness. There are certain areas that are also doing worse than expected during this recovery, which includes the state of Rhode Island and Louisiana, both of which are dealing with higher unemployment rates now than they were back in 2009.