'Youth Magnet' Cities Swarming With Unemployed

The recession hasn’t done anything to stem the tide of young people pouring into places like Portland, Austin, and Seattle, the Wall Street Journal reports, and that’s straining those cities’ job markets. If anything, hipsters who’ve lost jobs elsewhere are more likely to set out for these reputedly cool locales. “A lot of people figure there aren’t jobs anywhere,” said one economist, “so they might as well be where they want to be.”

Portland’s unemployment rate has doubled since February 2007, and local business are closing rapidly as spending decreases. College grads are viciously competing for jobs they’re over-qualified for. “You have to wonder what would inspire someone to walk into a higher than US average unemployment rate,” says the president of a local staffing firm. But here's the rub: This same group of the educated under-employed could help cities like Portland rebound once the economy recovers, the Journal notes.
(More Portland stories.)