Great state to work?
Rapid City Journal editorial, 11-17-05
By The Journal Editorial Board
Statistics can lead to interesting conclusions. Studies
based on statistics can lead to even more interesting conclusions. We
say this because a recent study by the Political Economy Research Institute
at the University of Massachusetts concluded that South Dakota was the
10th best place to work.
According to its Work Environment Index for 2005, South Dakota rated
10th among the 50 states and District of Columbia and barely missed being
in the top five states. The top 10 states in which to work are, according
the WEI: Delaware (89), New Hampshire (81), Minnesota (80), Vermont (77),
Iowa (73), Connecticut (72), Indiana, Nebraska and Wisconsin (71) and
South Dakota (70). Louisiana was dead last with a score of 31 - and this
was before Hurricane Katrina took out New Orleans.
According to researchers, states were rated in three categories: job
opportunities, which includes unemployment rate and rate of "involuntary
part-timers" (or workers who can't find a full-time job); job quality,
which includes average wages (adjusted for cost-of-living), and proportion
of employees receiving health and retirement benefits; and workplace
fairness, which includes proportion of low-income workers (earning less
than 50 percent of national average pay, adjusted for cost-of-living),
degree of pay equity, state minimum wage and opportunity to unionize.
South Dakota's 10th-place ranking is helped by its 2nd-place ranking
for job opportunities among the 50 states that offsets its middle of
the pack ranking for job quality (25th) and workplace fairness (29th).
So, what does this mean? Taking our own look at the numbers:
-- Job opportunities: The state has had one of the lowest unemployment
rates in the nation, with a 3.5 percent unemployment rate in 2004, according
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or third-lowest in the country. South
Dakota may not have many "involuntary part-timers," but it
has the fifth-highest rate of workers with more than one job at 8.6 percent
of the workforce, according to Monthly Labor Review.
-- Job quality: South Dakota's mean annual salary of $29,080 is well
behind the national mean annual salary of $37,440. On the other hand,
the state has a lower than average number of nonelderly without health
insurance at 14 percent of the population, compared with 18 percent nationally,
according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit group specializing
in health care issues.
-- Workplace fairness: Obviously, if South Dakota's mean annual salary
is about 22 percent less than the national mean annual salary, the state
should have a greater percentage of low-income workers. Does pay equity
mean that men and women earn about the same, even if it's less than the
national average? South Dakota's minimum wage is the same as the federal
minimum wage and we're a right to work state, both of which may factor
against us in the study, but what do they have to do with workplace fairness?
Many companies treat their employees fairly regardless of compensation
or absence of a union.
Statistics are relative. That is, by themselves, numbers don't mean
anything except when compared with like statistics. South Dakota's strong
showing in the Work Environment Index may mean that, when compared alongside
other states, maybe we're not so bad off. The grass may not be as green
on the other side of the fence after all. It helps also to be skeptical
about some of the statistics used in the WEI study. South Dakota's low
unemployment rate may mean that people who lose their job move to another
state, and the high percentage of people holding down more than one job
is not a sign of a healthy economy.
Throw in South Dakota's fresh air and clean water, outdoor activities,
low crime rate, small cities and open spaces, working here starts to
look better all the time.
Still, while there's plenty of room for improvement, things could be
worse. We are not, after all, in Louisiana.
Link: Rapid
City Journal
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