JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A new ranking has Jacksonville as the top place for young people to get jobs, but Action News found information saying otherwise.
The River City is known for a lot of things, including its bridges, military bases and of course the football team. A new ranking out from the Fiscal Times has Jacksonville at number one for young people to find jobs. It came as a surprise to people who live here. "I'm pretty sure that's wrong," said resident Christi Mahan.
It shows the unemployment rate for 25 to 34 year olds between two and three percent. That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But Action News did some digging and found different, higher numbers from the latest US Census Bureau report. They show unemployment around 12 or 13 percent.
"My first reaction is, it's too good to be true," said UNF Professor Andres Gallo. He's the chair of the economics department at UNF. "The study says it's around two to three percent. Is that possible," asked Action News. "No it's not possible," said Gallo.
He says the economy is recovering, but slowly and numbers can be changed. "It's very tough out there," said Gallo.
The new ranking did give reasons for why the unemployment rate was so low. They say the military bases mean non-civilian jobs are in high demand. They also tout Jacksonville as the home to the largest Toyota distributor in the country. While the ranking could be a sign of things to come, right now, some people aren't buying it. "I know a lot of people trying to get jobs," said McMahan. "From the bottom of the heart, you want to see something like that. But the reality is, it's very different," said Gallo.
The ranking also says there's been some renaissance in film making here in the River City that has helped create jobs.
Because of the discrepancies we found in the ranking, we tried contacting the Fiscal Times, but we haven't heard back from them. Some of the other cities on the list include, Fort Worth Texas, Boston, Massachusetts and Honolulu, Hawaii.
