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Rank	State	Rate
1	NORTH DAKOTA	3.0
1	SOUTH DAKOTA	3.0
3	NEBRASKA	3.4
4	DELAWARE	3.9
4	IOWA	3.9
4	MINNESOTA	3.9
4	VIRGINIA	3.9
8	MARYLAND	4.1
9	HAWAII	4.2
9	MONTANA	4.2
9	VERMONT	4.2
12	WYOMING	4.4
13	CONNECTICUT	4.6
13	KANSAS	4.6
15	MAINE	4.7
15	OKLAHOMA	4.7
15	TENNESSEE	4.7
18	GEORGIA	4.8
18	INDIANA	4.8
18	NEW HAMPSHIRE	4.8
21	MISSOURI	4.9
22	NEVADA	5.0

In other words, hiring is not easy in much of the country. The current unemployment crisis is localized.

What matters is never the overall surplus of labor (the thing unemployment rates attempt to measure). Rather, staffing and hiring of a particular enterprise is directly related to the availability of the specific kinds of workers in the specific geography. As the population ages, the desire and ability to relocate are in decline. The best way to understand whether or not you can solve a problem through a relocation program is by focusing on geographies that have a surplus in the professions you need.

For any sustained labor force management program to really work, you have to treat local unemployment data in the same way that we are discussing the national info. What really matters is the labor surplus or shortage within a normal commute of your offices.