Sunday, February 19, 2006
Recent unemployment reports in northern Kentucky have created some question. Economic development professionals cannot understand why the Northern Kentucky economy, which by all accounts has been growing, has a slightly higher unemployment rate than the national average. Read more.
This article highlights the problems of using unemployment rates as a indicator of regional economic health. Unemployment rates are computed numbers. A far better approach is to look at employment numbers, which are not.
Another important distinction: unemployment numbers tend to focus our attention on the short term. Economic developers should be thinking in terms of longer time horizons.
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Unemployment confusion in Northern KY
