Unemployment in Greenville

The statewide unemployment rate in South Carolina currently holds at well over 11%, and the second highest rate of unemployment in the nation next to Michigan. That's a record folks, and, while giving into despair isn't helpful, it's also time to face the music and get serious.

While we can be a little grateful that unemployment in Greenville runs at 9.6% according to GreenvilleOnline, it's still a pretty dire situation for folks who are out of work and running out of savings and unemployment coverage. A look in the Sunday classifieds shows an employment section that is half a page long and mostly filled with either health care and commission based jobs or just outright fluff. For a while, the local plasma center was running an ad "hiring" people to sell their plasma. I know plasma is important, but you know it's bad when bleeding for living is the most promissing job lead in the paper.

It's not much better on job boards online. I've spoken with a couple of people who put up employment ads on Craigslist, and they report that received mind blowing floods of emails and resumes for very basic jobs. Major retailers report that they are simply overwhelmed with thousands of applications for a retail position everyday. Many of these stores are cutting their own staffs hours and aren't hiring anyway.

Given the situation, people who are looking for employment just have to face facts. The traditional job market is very small in town right now, and it will take some hustling to land a full time position. That means getting out and networking, putting out the word, and, maybe, redefining yourself a little. Sometimes it's not until your backs against the wall that you realize how strong you are. Think about what you're good at and how you can make it valuable to others. Almost all of the success stories that I've heard of in the new economy, are about people who did just that and branched out on their own, freelancing, networking, and doing the hustle until they found something works.

Wisteria on the Way Out

As spring continues to slip on by, the wisteria of Greenville appears to be on it's way out. The coming and going of the wisteria is a very visible sign of the passage of the early flowers of spring into spring proper.