Friday’s Food for Thought: Putting Jobs On The Map

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2.4 million U.S. jobs were created from 2014 to 2015, and the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.9 percent.

To visualize this job growth, cost-estimating website HowMuch.net created a 3D map using BLS data to show where jobs have grown and declined. Cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and Idaho Falls, Idaho, saw the most growth, while Lafayette, La., and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Ill., saw a decline in jobs.

Ever wonder what the most searched job is by state? Career website Zippia generated a map showing the most popular job searches according to Google Trends, reports Business Insider. While the top searches in many states were typical professions such as account manager, artist, and plumber, some of the more interesting top searches included lion tamer in California, Mount Rushmore tour guide in South Dakota, tree hugger in Kentucky, and pirate in North Carolina.

If you’re looking for a job working with a specific product or in a very specific field, Atlas Obscura’s “Other Capitals of the World” map may be helpful. The map pinpoints cities and towns around the world that are the “capitals” of certain products and services. For example, Elberton, Georgia, is the “Granite Capitol of the World,” producing more granite products than any other city, and Xintang, China, is the “Jeans Capital of the World” manufacturing 800,000 pairs of jeans per day. Check out the map to see other “capital” designations around the world.

In July, CityLab published an interactive map depicting the geography of jobs in the U.S. Dots on the map represent people from 2010 U.S. Census data, and are color-coded to represent jobs in manufacturing and trade, professional services, healthcare, education, government, retail, hospitality, and other services. For example, Los Angeles shows large patches of manufacturing and trade, while Las Vegas shows a majority of healthcare, education, government, retail, and hospitality professionals throughout the city.

Photo Credit: Zippia