We all know the number - 9.9% is the national unemployment rate for April 2010. We also all know that the 'number' is not a perfect calculation. It is, however, a relative number - higher than 7% and lower than 12%. Some of us know the State of Minnesota rate - 7.4% (it is the March number; they need a longer period of time to come up with the April number). A few of us know the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington rate - 7.8% (also the March number).

What if you have a Bachelor's degree or higher?

This is where the numbers get interesting. We have always talked about the importance of education. In each search we have conducted (459 and counting!), the importance of education and continuing education is discussed. Without going back to count, I will venture to guess that over 95% of our clients require a bachelor's degree; many want more.

What is FULL employment?

When I studied macro economics in college, my instructor was Walter Heller. He had been (MANY years earlier) the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors for President John F. Kennedy (no age jokes here please!). While I can NOT say that I remember everything from that class, I do remember that he stated that full employment was between 3.0% and 5.0% unemployment. His point at that time was that you needed some unemployment for a healthy economy - assuring some room for movement.

Government websites - are they ever easy to read?

Check out http://www.bls.gov/news/release/empsit.t04.htm. This is the website that breaks down the unemployment rate by education level (for the age 25+ population). The conclusion is clear if you are advising people about going to/finishing college. From a search perspective, it continues to support the trend we are seeing - that candidates for senior level positions are in great demand as the general economy slowly improves. We mentioned last week that we are seeing candidates considering multiple opportunities and getting multiple offers. This data may help further our understanding of why.