The Agonizing Job Recovery

Richard Florida:

A report [PDF] released at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors last week – though it was spun optimistically, with predictions of job growth in 357 of the country's 363 metropolitan areas – lends support to this view. Just a third of all metros (121) are projected to have job creation rates of 2 percent or more. And while 40 percent are predicted to have unemployment rates below 6 percent during 2014, a worryingly high proportion – 35 percent – will see their rates hover above 7 percent.
The map below, from the report, shows the geographic variations of the great metro reset. It charts the time frame for return to peak employment in metro areas across the U.S.

A report [PDF] released at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors last week – though it was spun optimistically, with predictions of job growth in 357 of the country's 363 metropolitan areas – lends support to this view. Just a third of all metros (121) are projected to have job creation rates of 2 percent or more. And while 40 percent are predicted to have unemployment rates below 6 percent during 2014, a worryingly high proportion – 35 percent – will see their rates hover above 7 percent.
The map below, from the report, shows the geographic variations of the great metro reset. It charts the time frame for return to peak employment in metro areas across the U.S.

To me, this looks like a map of where young folks move to vs. where they move from.  In the Rust Belt, some of these areas have to be hurt by demographic effects, since the populations aren't growing, except in average age.  As for the Sunbelt, I would blame the overbuilding in the housing bubble.