Who is counted as unemployed?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks and are currently available for work. Actively looking for work may consist of any of the following activities:

• Contacting:
- An employer directly or having a job interview
- A public or private employment agency
- Friends or relatives
- A school or university employment center
• Sending out resumes or filling out applications
• Placing or answering advertisements
• Checking union or professional registers
• Some other means of active job search

BYU–I students struggle to find employment

Joshua Holmstead is a junior at BYU-Idaho. He is off track this semester, and his schedule is wide open. Holmstead is known as a hard worker and has years of work experience. Although he is a highly qualified engineering student, he is willing to except any employment, menial or otherwise. Still, Holmstead is unemployed.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate rose from 9.8 to 10.2 percent in October 2009.

To some students, the unemployment rate once meant next to nothing; now a 0.4 percent jump is a crippling blow to many students trying to imagine a career in post-academic life.

The Economic Policy Institute recently reported that the unemployment level of college graduates surpasses that of high school dropouts.

“Things fell apart really fast last year, but it looks like the job market for graduates has hit a bottom,” said Phil Gardner, director of MSU’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute.
Since October 2008, the unemployment rate for men and women, age 16 to 20, has gone up by almost 4 percent. Many college students find it next to impossible to find a job while in school.
BYU–Idaho students have found the quest especially tiresome.

Although unemployment rate in Rexburg is lower than the national unemployment rate, students find it almost impossible to find employment. The opportunities are scarce and the competition is fierce.

While unemployed, Holmstead applied to Melaleuca, Craigo’s, Broulim’s and many other local Rexburg locations, but to no avail.

He eventually found work at a local temporary agency, but the hours are unstable and unpredictable. Luckily, between savings and scholarships, Holmstead has been able to stay afloat; however not all students are as lucky.

Sophomore Courtney Gopp searched for the first month of the semester, but eventually just gave up.
“It took more time away from my studies to find a job then to actually have one,” Gopp said.

National Unemployment Rate

Marriott begins construction in Rexburg

SpringHill Suites, a branch of the Marriott International family, is scheduled to open the doors of its new Rexburg hotel in mid-November.

Benjamin Lee and Joseph Sybrowsky, general and sales managers of the new hotel, are thrilled to be open for business in Rexburg.

Market research experts at Marriott International have done extensive research and found a lot of demand for the upcoming location.

Most hotels in Rexburg fill up over the summer due to traffic to different national parks and also the student and parent traffic that BYU–Idaho provides according to Sybrowsky and Lee.

The local hotels are also often stretched to capacity at the beginning and end of the semesters and also during mother’s and graduation weekends. There is also a surprising amount of business travel in the area.

“We do want to be integrated into the community and in so doing, we want to be hiring from the community and from BYU–Idaho so we can be part of this growing city,” Sybrowsky said.

SpringHill’s suite is a “hipper, more trendy” Marriott. Sybrowsky described the new location as a hotel for the “traveler or business person who hates to travel.”
The rooms are stylish and functional; some amenities include a microwave, complimentary breakfast fridge, pool and spa and in-room iPod technology.
Some of the hotel’s highlights are spacious studio suites, innovatively laid out, stylishly furnished and smartly designed,” according to www.marriott.com.

The lobby is spacious and inviting; it inspires a calming, relaxing atmosphere, according to the web site.

The new hotel will be holding a grand opening ceremony 30 to 60 days after opening, which will include a ribbon cutting and a charitable donation or event of some kind.
The Marriott corporation began in 1927 as a root beer stand in Washington D.C. owned by J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott. Now, Marriott International includes over 3,200 lodging properties both international and within the United States according to www.marriott.com.

The typical SpringHill’s guest stay is between three to five nights. The rate will be approximately $109 per night.

Shopping center to open in Rexburg.

A new shopping center on Second South is scheduled to open in the summer of 2010 as part of a development project by the Hemming Corporation. Representatives from the company said the project is designed to revitalize the Rexburg community.

The shopping center is part of the development project called Hemming Village and will include seven new retailers. There will be two to three eating establishments, and new clothing stores will also open in Hemming Village.

The Hemming Corporation has deep roots in the Rexburg community. The shopping center is located across from the home property that owners Lane and Val Hemming grew up in, and they see the development as a way to preserve their family history.

“I’m the last of the Hemmings that will actually live in Rexburg. We wanted to figure out a way to hold onto our name in this community,” said Lane Hemming, owner of Hemming Village.

The property stretches over nearly 14 acres just west of campus.
“[The shopping center] is right downtown. It’s so close to student housing it’s almost continuous to the campus. It will be somewhere that students can hang out, with eateries and clothing,” Hemming said.

The project began in 2008 but was delayed due to the economic recession.
“We did have a delay for a period because of financing, but the project is now moving forward because we got the financing we need,” said Richie Webb, president of the Hemming Corporation.

The financial struggle delayed the plans for a hotel and convention center.
The hotel and convention center are expected to begin construction in four to five years.

“We’ve shifted our focus and moved our money in a different direction,” Hemming said.
While the current economic climate is still a concern, Hemming said that developing the community is now important enough to keep the projects on track.

“I just feel like Rexburg, Idaho, is going to grow, especially because of the university,” Hemming said. “If we’re not proactive, it’s not going to go in the direction we want it to. Look at downtown Idaho Falls ... the old downtown area is dying. I don’t want that to happen to Rexburg.”

BYU–I students are excited about the potential new shopping center and look forward to more retail options being available in Rexburg.

Sophomore Taylor Phillips said he will probably shop at Hemming Village when it opens.
“There are not that many stores in Rexburg and it would be cool to have more options,” Phillips said.

Really Rexburg.

The national economic climate is changing. American maintain less and less confidence in our once internationally envied fiscal situation. We are beginning to see the effects in our day-to-day lives as friends and neighbors lose their employment and consequently their homes and are forced to seek alternative circumstances.

This issue is no longer a mere subject for dinner table fodder or for disconnected politicians, but a new reality that forces us to reexamine our financial choices and ultimately our values and basic instincts.

Over the next 12 weeks I will observe the Rexburg Economy and chronicle my findings in several mediums including print, broadcasting, and blog posts.

I will focus on the negative economic current and its effects on specific local establishments, citizens, and the students of Brigham Young University Idaho.