Unemployment rate (September): 5.8 percent (U.S.: 5 percent)
Median income (2015): $52,431 (U.S.: $55,775)
Poverty rate (2015): 14.7 percent (U.S.: 14.7 percent)
College share (2015): 23.6 percent (U.S.: 30.6 percent)
The real-estate bubble was at its bubbliest in Nevada, which meant the state also experienced one of the country’s worst slumps when the bubble burst. Unemployment neared 14 percent in the state at the peak of the crisis, and it would have been worse if many construction workers hadn’t abandoned the state when jobs dried up. Even today, more than seven years after the recession officially ended, the state still suffers from relatively high unemployment and has a larger share of “underwater” homes (homes that are worth less than their owners owe on their mortgages) than any other state.
Chadwick Matlin
Before the first exit polls arrive and Election Day starts to get more tense for each side (as if that were possible), we have one last bit of lighthearted fare from staff at a New York City elementary school today. It’s an election-themed rendition of Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out.” Sample lyric: “Listening to both of them just yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak — makes my head hurt and how.”
Listen to the the whole song below:
Farai Chideya
With recreational marijuana measures on the ballot in five states this election, including California, some people are already voting with their dollars. Indices tracking the value of cannabis-industry company stocks, including this one from Marijuana Index U.S., have seen a sharp run-up in price before the election.
The market could actually see a correction if election-related enthusiasm for the stocks has run them up too far. But in the long run, the sector seems likely to gain more investment. Fifty-seven percent of U.S. adults now believe marijuana should be legalized.
