An interactive map of vanishing employment across the country, updated with the latest figures.
By Chris WilsonUpdated Monday, Aug. 10, 2009, at 5:14 PM ET
The economic crisis, which has claimed more than 5 million jobs
since the recession began, did not strike the entire country at once. A
map of employment gains or losses by county tells the story of how
those job losses first struck in the most vulnerable regions and then
spread rapidly to the rest of the country. As early as August 2007, for
example—several months before the recession officially began—jobs
were already on the decline in southwest Florida; Orange County,
Calif.; much of New Jersey; and Detroit, while other areas of the
country remained on the uptick.
Using the Labor Department's local area unemployment statistics, Slate
presents the recession as told by unemployment numbers for each county
in America. Because the data are not seasonally adjusted for natural
employment cycles throughout the year, the numbers you see show the
change in the number of people employed compared with the same month in
the previous year. Blue dots represent a net increase in jobs, while
red dots indicate a decrease. The larger the dot, the greater the
number of jobs gained or lost. Click the arrows or calendar at the
bottom to see each month of data. Click the green play button to see an
animation of the data.