View a better shot of this here.
The unemployment rate for Clark County, NV is 13.9% as of September 2009.
Justin is now among the long list of construction workers out-of-work.
His layoff didn’t come as a total surprise. He’s been at City Center, which is due to open the last sections of its massively ridiculous project soon. We knew he’d be unemployed by mid-December. It coinciding with my birthday was amusing in an Alanis Morissette “it figgers” sorta way. (P.S. Thanks for all the birthday love. I’m still glowing from the warmth!)
He doesn’t know what to expect but thinks he may have a job lined up starting after the New Year. That gives him nearly three weeks if nothing else crops up.
He’s probably a bit too excited to be laid off right now. I think this feels to him as if it’s one step closer to leaving Las Vegas, even if we’re not quite thereyet. You should see him bubbling with new ideas. It’s a bit like watching a child deschool. His personal horizons are broadening and he’s churning with excitement.
He’s talking about learning in a whole new way. He wants to know more about the things he hasn’t had time for before: peak oil, sustainability, organic farming and permaculture, economic and political decline. He’s been getting involved in social media and forums and engaging in ways he’s been too tired to attempt before now. This is exciting! I have a feeling something awesome is going to be coming from him. He’s even talking about starting a blog to chronicle it all!
So even though this unemployment is not quite The Big Ending (hopefully), it feels like the start of something else.
How is that big scary time lapse up there affecting everyone else?
I'm Tara Wagner, life coach and creator of the Digging Deep process, where I coach women out of survival mode to recreate their lives and families.
Here in rural, middle Georgia we have watched (seemingly helplessly) as employment has risen to a staggering 14.6% as of last week. If someone in your household isn’t unemployed you know a neighbor who is. Everyone is effected.
For almost 100 years we were a manufacturing town, for sure. 1 of every 3 people was employed by one of 11 plants in the county. In July of this year the last plant closed up and left. 7 of them are now operating on foreign soil. It is sickening on a very basic, human level.
Our local economy is drying up and Main Street has resigned itself to little more than thrift stores and consignment shops.
Happy Belated Birthday!
Totally shocking graphic, there. Good luck to Justin and all of you! Exciting things are in the works…
that is an amazing animation, isn’t it? eek! our county stays the same yellow color all the way up to the very end, and then is the only red square in a sea of purple/black. not too bad here. housing market stale, hard to sell houses (but not impossible), house values didn’t tank, unemployment not too bad. can’t complain. but wow, to see the whole country in one thing like that. amazing.
definitely the start of something! while i am sure it can be stressful, the end of the talons in the heart of freedom is a good thing. moving you on to the next part of your life. good luck!
happy belated birthday! because of our move from tokyo to melbourne my husband was unemployed for almost 5 months. he recenlty started working part time.during that time he began learning more about the global recession, peak oil…all the same things your husband is diving into. he’s a changed person. he sees the world and himself completely different now. he’s also thinking about starting a blog.
good luck to you all!
I am in Michigan which has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. I love this place and am committed to it. My goal is to start a business based on a new model and not like older business models that failed or didn’t work out. Detroit city proper has unemployment near 30%. Detroit Metro as a whole is about 17%. I am in Northern Michigan and the unemployment rate is a bit lower. It is 12.1% in the county I am in. Michigan is a beautiful state and I am said to see it this way. I hope I can positively contribute to change in this state. Good luck! We are all apart of this change here in our “economy.” Good luck!
Haha – I said good luck twice! Oops!
)
That map progression is just staggering. Our part of the country is by far, not the worst… but it still shows that it used to be better. A lot better. The areas that are just a cluster of black and dark purple make my heart so sad. I’m so thankful that Seth is unshakably employed, otherwise I wouldn’t be afforded the opportunity to flail about at home doing my sewing and selling my work. I do not miss my days of working outside our home… not one bit. I am insanely impressed with Justin’s outlook on all of this and his determination to make the most of his time off. Kudos! And I’m crossing my fingers for you guys that this does indeed put you one step closer to getting ON THE ROAD.
I have this circle of women I’ve kept in touch for the last three years an done of our traditions is that every time someone loses a job (or leaves it…either way) we all throw a virtual party of…..CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!
Kind of going along the lines that this means new opportunities are opening up and there is space to explore new interests and shape your future into the way that inspires you the most.
So to you and Justin……………CONGRATULATIONS!
May your future be bright and wonderful and full of wonderful and infinite learning possibilities. Your family is on an amazing journey and I feel lucky to get to peek in on it.
My husband was laid off November 6th. He gave 6 years of his life to a job he tolerated on good days and hated on bad days, to provide for his young family and help get our land and put us as close to mortgage-free as we are now. I’m sure when he was little that “chemical filler” was nowhere on his list of dreams.
I was so struck by your statement: “You should see him bubbling with new ideas. It’s a bit like watching a child deschool.” That’s EXACTLY what it was like here too. I love the way you help me understand unschooling. Thank you!!
Ooh, so where do you want to go, if you do leave Las Vegas? I know it’s not all sheer excitement, losing a job, but the idea of open possibilities is exciting. You guys could come to West Texas. Our county wasn’t really effected at all by the recession, and we’ve found the people here to be really kind and wonderful. Also, TONS of homeschoolers here. Just in case you’re looking for more options!
I hope things work out for you. My husband has been unemployed since the end of August and it has been painfully difficult.
He is trying to get a business off the ground but nothing is working and he hasn’t found a job. This area was booming until earlier this year.
Similar situation in UK, so many of our friends unemployed or struggling with sparse work. But I actually see the horizon, and it’ll improve sooner than most have thought…. or so I believe. Fortunately, somewhat, we have opped out of the 9-5 lifestyle and are making do with many projects and of course not needing as much money in the first place has helped enormously. But we have ebbed and flowed this year, with some really low (financial) points. SO glad he’s excited about life, so many others sink into darkness.
How great is it that Justin is excited about new possibilities? When were you guys planning to head off in the Winnebago? I thought you were leaving when Justin got laid off?
I was out of a job for over 6 months and have been working part time for the past year. My husband is working part time too so as you can imagine income is real tight. We manage though and in May hubby will graduate as an RN and that job market is still pretty good. It takes a little bit to get a nice balance of freedom vs fear but things can always be worse.
Happy Birthday!
@ simply mother and Lisa C, we’re not quite ready to leave so Justin is hoping to find a bit more work to hold us over. We’re hoping to hit the road when it warms up a bit more. Where we’ll end up is anyones guess at this point!
I know how you guys are feeling but hey, it’s Christmas so enjoy the hols and see where the new year takes you!
It’s amazing to hear such a positive, energetic outlook on unemployment. What an awesome guy you’ve got there!
I can totally relate to all this. My husband has also been unemployed since august and to make matters worse we didn’t even qualify for unemployment. We moved here to Vegas last December and this entire year my husband has only worked 4 mos. So we didn’t have much saved when he lost his job. Although my situation is not good I know there are those out there much worse off. At least we have a roof over our heads. We got our house cheap and were able to buy it free and clear. Also we qualified for food stamps so we have food on the table. The only thing we don’t have is cold hard cash! My husband decided to go to trucking school after not being able to find any work. Right now he is in phoenix on his final phase of the school. He should be going out on some paid training this week and we should finally see a little cash coming in. I hope this whole trucking thing works out for us because we took on some debt for the school. But in some ways I feel this might open new doors for us and I am excited for him.