America has enjoyed its lowest unemployment in five decades as the national figure has fallen to 3.3% in recent months. According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in one city, it was only a fraction of that. The lowest unemployment rate in the nation was in Logan, Utah, at 1.5% in November, the most recent month for which information is available.
Out of the 389 metro areas in America, the unemployment rate was lower in November in 223, compared to November last year. It was higher in 137 areas and unchanged in 29.
Logan is among the smaller metros in America and ranks 292nd. Its labor force is only 73,570. Of those, only 1,126 people were unemployed in November.
Eighty-four percent of the population in Logan is white, according to the Census Bureau. Ninety percent of the population has at least a high school education and 35% has a college degree or better, each above the national average. Twenty percent of the households in Logan have incomes over $75,000. For a city with low unemployment, the poverty rate is particularly high at 25%.
Logan has another substantial advantage over most metro areas. It has a small number of organizations or companies that dominate the job pool. Utah State University is the largest of these. It employs roughly 8,000 people. Medical organizations, led by Logan Regional Hospital, employ another 2,500. Manufacturers, led by Icon and E.A. Miller, support about another 2,000. Because of their stable employment situations, Logan is unlikely to see much of a rise in joblessness.
Is there anything other cities can learn from the situation in Logan? Probably the answer is no. Its residents have been fortunate to enjoy employment circumstances that do not exist in most other cities.
According to 24/7 Wall St., these are the 50 best American cities to live in.
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