America's Worst Cities for Finding a Job

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Bad interviews or a lack of experience may not be the reason you can't land a job. Your location may be to blame. If you're seeking employment, consider moving to Washington, San Jose, or New York. Those are the three best places in the nation for finding a job, according to Juju.com.
Juju, a site that aggregates job listings, releases a monthly Job Search Difficulty Index, which measures how tough it is to find employment in 50 major cities around the country. To gauge the level of difficulty, Juju divides the number of unemployed workers in each city, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by the number of jobs in their index of millions of online job postings.
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"If you look back to November 2009, the average number of unemployed people per job posting was 6.5. This year it is 3.19," says Juju vice president Brendan Cruickshank. "This indicates that the market has gotten significantly better."
The hiring environment may be improving, but job seekers in cities that rely on unstable industries should know that they may each be competing with six, seven or eight other idle workers for one advertised job. "The cities that have continued to underperform rely on jobs from lagging industries such as manufacturing, tourism and construction," Cruickshank says. "Detroit and Las Vegas have improved from this time last year, but they continue have more unemployed individuals per open job than other large metropolitan areas."
[See Who's Hiring Now: Inquire Within]
Unemployment in Las Vegas is at 15%, almost six points above the national average. There are now nine unemployed individuals for every advertised job in Sin City, making it the nation's hardest place to find a job. Sunbelt cities like Las Vegas dominate the list of the most difficult metro areas for finding a job. Large metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Miami and New Orleans continue to suffer as their tourism remains weak.
For every job posting in Miami, there are 8.5 unemployed people. Los Angeles and New Orleans have about 6.3 and 4 idle workers per advertised job, respectively.
There is far more hope if you're seeking employment in a city with stronger industries. Washington, D.C., is the best metropolitan area in the U.S. for finding a job, with only one unemployed person per job listing. Unemployment in the nation's capital sits at 5.9%, thanks to its stabilized job market and bounty of government, education and health care related jobs.
Other capital cities do well, too. Seven of the 15 metropolitan areas that are best for finding a job are state capitals.
[See 20 Industries Where Jobs Are Coming Back]
"We are seeing some consistent trends from the cities at the top and bottom of our rankings," Cruickshank says. "The cities that are strong performers have a large concentrations of jobs in industries that have held steady during the economic downturn, such as health care, education and government. State capitals such as Hartford and Austin perform well as a result."

Mike Amerson/istockphoto

1. Las Vegas, Nev.
Unemployed Individuals Per Advertised Job: 8.86

Cristian Lazzari/istockphoto

2. Miami, Fla.
Unemployed Individuals Per Advertised Job: 8.46

David Liu/istockphoto

3. Riverside, Calif.
Unemployed Individuals Per Advertised Job: 7.31

Agnieszka Gaul/istockphoto

4. Detroit, Mich.
Unemployed Individuals Per Advertised Job: 7.05

Eric Hood/istockphoto

5. Los Angeles, Calif.
Unemployed Individuals Per Advertised Job: 6.27







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Contrarians Pour On the Concrete

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Avid fliers who love cars, airplanes, hangars and barns, Shawn and Sherrie Parry are no shrinking violets. "We're both the kind of kids who were described as bulls in a china shop," said Mrs. Parry.
The culmination of their interests, vision and nonconformity is a house that doesn't look anything like the others in this quiet, lakeside neighborhood-or like most other houses, for that matter. Amid tightly spaced Nantucket-style cottages and 1950s ranches sits an 8,000-square-foot conglomeration of concrete, rusted steel and glass geometric shapes.
Slide Show: Inside the Concrete House A heavy steel door painted glossy wasabi green swings open to reveal a 75-foot-long bridge suspended 10 feet off the lawn below, creating an inner courtyard. Along one side a few feet away is a wing resembling a railroad car, with rusty burnt orange steel and gray concrete siding. The bridge ends in a door, which opens to another narrow steel bridge, almost a catwalk, overlooking the main room below. That room is mostly bare concrete walls, concrete floors and walls of steel columns and glass windows that look out over a back yard and Lake Washington beyond. Along the ceilings runs exposed pipe that pumps in geothermal heat.
The furniture is sufficiently sparse that the couple's two daughters, 10 and 14, have been allowed to hit tennis balls against the wall in the front hallway and ride scooters along the floors (the scooter has since been banned). An enormous concrete fireplace rises from the floor up to the 24-foot ceiling. Bright red and yellow paintings on wood and canvas break up the one vast white wall.
"It's not for everyone. But it's perfect for us," said Mr. Parry, age 51. A commercial real-estate developer who acted as general contractor, Mr. Parry loves that the house has a view of Renton Municipal Airport, where he and his wife met when she gave him flying lessons. It also has views of Mt. Rainer and the Boeing factory where the couple can see the new 737s emerge.
Posted on design blog contemporist.com, the home attracted praise but also comments like it had "all the warmth of an oil refinery." When the Parrys left a dinner party early one night, noting they had to get up early to meet the concrete truck in the morning, a woman exclaimed "You're pouring more concrete?" Some acquaintances loved it; others asked when the home would be finished long after it was complete.
Some neighbors expressed unhappiness, particularly when 40-ton cranes started erecting 30-foot concrete walls and big pump concrete trucks showed up at 5 a.m. (one neighbor phoned the police, citing a disturbance of the peace).
The couple takes the criticism in stride. "We wanted our house to be strong and a piece of art in itself," Mr. Parry said.
The project's high-profile architect-Tom Kundig of Seattle firm Olson Kundig, known for his steel, concrete and glass homes that expose the guts of their construction-says he's used to what he calls insulting remarks. "This kind of design is scary to some people. It's different. But I still get offended. It's like someone saying you are ugly," he says.
Living in a more traditional house in the suburb of Bellevue, the Parrys purchased the Mercer Island lot for $750,000 in 2001 and tore down its tri-level ranch-style house in 2006. They said they knew exactly the style of house they wanted to build in its place, and mapped out their vision, using words like "strong" and "drama" and taking it to several architects before they worked up the courage to ask for a meeting with Mr. Kundig, whom they considered a rock star out of their league.
The house took a year and cost a little over $200 per square foot to build, considerably less time and money than average because of the Parrys' experience, contacts, participation and skills. Mrs. Parry, 47, acted as the project manager, carrying 60-pound bags of concrete up a 30-foot ladder and overseeing the work from sunrise to sunset. During construction, the family lived in a 500-square-foot beach hut owned by the beach club next door; at one point the hut ran out of power for 10 days. (A shingled, four-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot house down the street with a lake view is for sale for $3 million.)
The beach-club parking lot has a clear view into the Parrys' master bedroom-something that doesn't bother them. Friends often wave to them from below. "In this day of mass-produced cookie cutter houses, they have a unique style," says neighbor and friend Susie Cero, an orthopedic surgeon. "They like things straightforward. What you see is what you get."



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Nov. 15-22: Pink, Ne-Yo, Daughtry, And Alanis Embrace Parenthood

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Alanis Morissette, Pink, Ne-Yo, and Chris Daughtry have more reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving. Each of the musicians and their mates are welcoming children into their family.
This week, Us Weekly revealed photos of Morissette's bare pregnant belly, save for an elaborate henna tattoo. According to the website Henna Caravan, it is common for expectant mothers in Morocco and India to have the temporary tattoos painted on their stomachs during the third trimester.
"Henna is believed to protect and bless the mother and child from any evil or malicious spirits that may be near during delivery," reads a statement on the Henna Caravan website.
Morissette, 36, and husband MC Souleye are expecting their baby boy next year.
Pink confirmed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Wednesday that she and her husband, Carey Hart, are also preparing for a special arrival. The fearless pop singer said she was actually hesitant to share their good news.
"I didn't want to talk about it, because I was just really nervous and I have had a miscarriage before," she said.
Pink doesn't know the sex of the baby on the way but said her mother wants her to have a girl. "My mom has always wished me a daughter just like me," Pink said. "I'm terrified one of us will go to jail."
Chris Daughtry and his wife, Deanna, have graduated from the nervous pregnancy stage to the sleep-deprived phase of newborn parenting. Fraternal twins, Adalynn Rose and Noah James, were born Wednesday.
The Daughtrys are excited about their new additions. "Our family is overwhelmed with joy by these two precious gifts from God," the proud father said in a statement on his website. "The babies are both healthy and resting. Thanks to everyone for their love and prayers."
The Daughtrys have two other children, Hannah and Griffin, according to "Access Hollywood."
Baby making music R&B singer Ne-Yo has found inspiration for a new ballad. Ne-Yo and girlfriend Monyetta Shaw had a baby girl, Madilyn Grace, last Friday (November 12).
The hit-maker confirmed the birth via Twitter. "Salutations all," Ne-Yo wrote. "As my life transforms due to the new life that sprung up on me last night, it's good to know my folks support."
The artist born Shaffer Smith said he felt like he was in love for the first time. "I promise I'll do my best or die tryin'," he wrote.
In other music-family news this week, Jessica Simpson confirmed her engagement to former NFL player Eric Johnson. The Beatles catalog went on sale on iTunes. Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Fallon performed Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair." And a Los Angeles Superior Court judge praised Chris Brown for his diligence in completing his probation requirements.
Looks like a lot of folks are going to have a great Thanksgiving this week. The folks at That's Really Week wish the same to you and yours. See you next week.


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Actor Wesley Snipes headed to prison for tax evasion

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"The defendant Snipes had a fair trial ... The time has come for the judgment to be enforced," U.S. District Judge Terrell Hodges said in his ruling.
Revoking bail for the 48-year-old star of the "Blade" trilogy, the judge ordered him to report to prison as directed by the U.S. Marshals Service or Bureau of Prisons.
It was not clear when or where Snipes would begin serving his time behind bars, however. His lawyer, Daniel Meachum, has said he would appeal if a new trial was denied.
Meachum told the Orlando Sentinel the ruling was shocking.
"Wesley is very disappointed but staying strong and positive," the newspaper quoted Meachum as saying.
Snipes had already lost his appeal of the prison sentence stemming from his 2008 conviction in Hodges' Ocala, Florida, court on three counts of "willful failure to file tax returns" for 1999 through 2001.
Snipes was found not guilty of five other counts in the high-profile felony tax case.
In seeking a new trial, Meachum had argued that jurors in the original trial were biased and that the prosecution's star witness had his own criminal problems.
At his sentencing, prosecutors said Snipes, a resident of Windermere, Florida, had earned more than $38 million since 1999 but had filed no tax returns or paid any taxes through October 2006.
Although he is best known for his roles in action films, Snipes has also had critical success in comedies like "White Men Can't Jump" in 1992. He played the lead in director Spike Lee's interracial drama "Jungle Fever" in 1991 and also played the jazz saxophonist in Lee's "Mo' Better Blues" in 1990.
Eric Thompson, a supervisor in the U.S. Marshals Service office in Orlando, Florida, said the Bureau of Prisons would notify Snipes and his lawyer of a surrender date.
"He'll probably get it by certified mail," Thompson said.
He declined to say what prison was likely to be selected for Snipes except to say that it would not be in Florida.
A listing for Snipes already posted on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website says his prisoner ID or registration number as 43355-018, his location is "in transit" and his release date is "unknown."




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After 30 years, Iowa opponents still think pink at Kinnick Stadium

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Jim Weber runs LostLettermen.com, devoted to keeping tabs on former college football and basketball players and other bits of nostalgia. Today he tracks down former Iowa coach Hayden Fry for the origins of Iowa's pink locker rooms, on display Saturday against Ohio State.

For over three decades, opponents entering the locker room at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium have felt like they just walked into a dollhouse. The space is coated floor to ceiling in bubblegum pink, even in the bathrooms, from pink sinks to lockers that look better suited for Barbies than 300-pound linemen.
What is a program decked in black and gold doing with a pink locker room? As the familiar legend has it, former Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry, a psychology major, ordered the makeover when he took over in 1978 in an effort to create a soothing effect on opponents. Jails have employed the same technique.
But the psychological edge is only part of the reason.
“Frankly, the only color paint we could find at the stadium was pink,” Fry said this week from his home in Mesquite, Nev.
Whatever the motivation, the motifs have become a cherished part of Iowa tradition and a constant annoyance for opponents. Former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler hated it so much he had his assistants put paper over the walls to cover it.
[Photos: Oregon's crazy new basketball floor]
The Iowa athletic department took things to a new level in 2005 when, as part of an $89 million renovation to the stadium, it added pink to just about everything else left in the locker room – shower floors, carpet, sinks, toilets, down to the urinals.
Not everyone was laughing. A visiting law professor at the school set off a media firestorm when she said the over-the-top makeover was offensive because it promoted sexism and homophobia by attempting to emasculate opponents. Suddenly, seven years after retiring from coaching, Fry found himself caught in the middle of a dispute in which he wanted no part. Supporters pointing out that sexism and homophobia had nothing to do with why Fry originally painted the locker room pink. Critics said that didn’t matter because sexism and homophobia were implied.
[Related: Wisconsin head football coach's awkward Iowa tattoo]
It came to a head when the coach ended up on a radio station with the irate head of a lesbian organization. 
"This lady started in on me saying a lot of bad things about the pink locker room," said Fry, never short on knee-slapping stories in his Texas drawl. "And I finally had to interrupt her and I said, 'Lady, I don’t care how bad you have to go to the bathroom, I wouldn’t let you use my pink locker room.' And I hung up. And the radio station called me back and said, ‘Coach, you can’t do that.’ And I said, ‘I just did.’ And I hung up on him."
Five years later, the debate has died down and the pink locker room remains, with its legend only growing.
"I honestly don’t know anything about Iowa, the state or just anything to be honest,” Ohio State kicker Devin Barclay told the OSU student newspaper, The Lantern, ahead of Ohio State's visit to Kinnick Stadium on Saturday. “I know that they have a pink locker room, that’s about it."
[Rewind: The coolest stadiums of the 2010 World Cup]
Sadly, Fry’s health has been an issue in recent years. He retired from coaching in 1998 because of prostate cancer and has had an ongoing battle with the disease since. Fry, 81, says if it weren’t for cancer, he'd still be coaching alongside Penn State's Joe Paterno, who turns 84 next month.
But cancer certainly hasn’t stripped the coach of the quirky sense of humor that sparked the pink locker room, player sing-alongs during practice, stand-up comedy routines prior to games and, occasionally, a team-wide rendition of the Hokey Pokey after big wins.
“I’ll give you my secret formula,” Fry said of his health. “Every morning when I wake up and realize I’m still on the right side of the grass, I do two things. I thank the good Lord, that’s number one. And number two, I reach over and chug a quart of WD-40 that keeps my metal knees lubricated."


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Daniel Day-Lewis Will Be Steven Spielberg's Abraham Lincoln

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Ladies and gentlemen, here's your Lincoln. Francois Durand/Getty Images For what seems like forever, director Steven Spielberg has talked about wanting to do a biopic on Abraham Lincoln from a script by "Angels in America" playwright Tony Kushner. But for the past decade, Spielberg has instead focused on other projects while Liam Neeson remained committed to playing our 16th president. When Neeson announced this summer that he was finally leaving the project, that seemed to be the end of it ever happening, but now the film is very much back on track: Daniel Day-Lewis is going to play Lincoln.

Photos: See more of Lincoln-to-be Daniel Day-Lewis>>

While Neeson would have a made a great Lincoln, we think Day-Lewis is just about a perfect choice: He has just the right amount of humanity, gravitas and charisma to play the most admired and worshipped (and therefore scrutinized) of all presidents. It's a major role in a major film by a major filmmaker, which means that audience expectations will be set ridiculously high, so you want someone who's got the chops to pull it off. He proved himself in Oscar-winning roles in "My Left Foot" and "There Will Be Blood," picking up additional Oscar nominations for his work in films including "In the Name of the Father" and "Gangs of New York." And after the debacle of "Nine," Day-Lewis needs to return to the type of full-bodied character portrayals he's known for, like "There Will Be Blood." This Lincoln project should do just that for the notoriously reclusive actor who has been known to go into seclusion for years following a film (he took off four full years after "My Left Foot").
Related: 'Jerry Maguire' child star finds new role >>
The film, based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" biography about Lincoln's battles with his White House Cabinet during the Civil War between 1861-1865, profiles the clashes brought about by the nation's turmoil. The Wrap reports that Spielberg will be shooting the film in the fall of next year. In other words, Spielberg will start the Lincoln project just before his next two movies will be coming out: the World War I drama "War Horse" and "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn." There had been some thought his next assignment after those two would be the apocalyptic sci-fi film "Robopocalypse", but it appears Spielberg will now be focusing on 19th century history before he turns his attention to the dystopian future. And now he's got arguably the best actor on the planet by his side to make this long-awaited film finally happen.


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Are the New Airport Scanners Safe?

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If you haven't seen the new screening machines that are popping up at U.S. airports, chances are you will soon. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is replacing most metal detectors with imaging devices that reveal items hidden underneath passengers' clothing. But some experts worry that the new machines could expose travelers to health risks. And there are obvious concerns about privacy issues, too.
There are actually two types of scanners, both of which require you to step into a booth and raise your arms. Millimeter wave machines use electromagnetic waves to create an image of the body, while the more controversial backscatter devices beam low-energy X-rays to produce a picture. The government says the radiation emitted from those devices is minimal, equal to the natural exposure during 2 minutes of flying, though some research suggests it's higher.
Because the backscatter machines use low-energy X-rays, most of the radiation is absorbed by the skin and doesn't penetrate the body, as medical X-rays do. But some experts think that could raise the risk of skin cancer or sperm mutations, especially in frequent flyers.
Other concerns involve cancer patients, children, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system, all of whom are more vulnerable to radiation risks. But perhaps the biggest fear about using X-ray scanners at airports is the possibility of a software glitch or operator error that exposes passengers to excessive doses of radiation.
Although the TSA says the scans are safe, you’re allowed to skip them and pass through a metal detector instead. But if you choose that option you’ll be subject to a hand search, which can take extra time. And some people consider them to be more intrusive.
You might encounter resistance from airport screeners when declining to be scanned, so print the FAQs from the TSA's website, which state that you have that right. You can also ask at the airport if the device uses the more worrisome X-ray technology.


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