Americans Relocate More Amid Torpid Recovery - WSJ.com

Note From Jim:
Hiring Trends. In seeking out best-in-class talent, are you finding candidates to be more reticent about relocation? If so, why? This very interesting WSJ article contains trend data which provides great insights for employers. Reading the entire article is a must. For enticement purposes, here are some of its key points:

Excerpts:

About 3.9% of the population, or 11.8 million people, moved to a different county in 2011, new Census figures show. That was the highest level since before the recession, and up from 3.5% in 2010 and 2009—the lowest level since the government began the tally in 1948.
Movement between counties largely reflects people moving because of jobs, demographers said. Overall, the increase signals both a healthier economy and future growth because it means more workers are being matched with jobs that suit their skills.

However, the 3.9% rate remains low historically

Among those moving more were 25-to-29-year-olds, indicating that many young people who were stymied by the weak labor market of recent years were finding jobs and moving on with their lives,...

Retirees also began to move more in 2011... Among the states that gained population in 2011 from domestic moves—rather than from immigration or births—were Florida and Nevada...

The U.S. rate of movement between counties peaked at 7.1% in 1950 and stayed above 6% through 1991.

The U.S. rate drifted lower in the 1990s and fell steeply through the 2000s. The 2011 increase in inter-county moves was the first in a decade

The U.S. mobility rate—a broader measure that includes movement of any distance—also declined during the 2000s

The U.S. is almost alone among developed countries in experiencing this decline

Several factors could be contributing to the long-term decline in U.S. movement between counties. It could be partly due to the aging of the population, with middle-aged workers and retirees less likely to move than people in their 20s, some economists say. In addition, the increase in two-earner households has made it harder for some families to relocate.... the long-term trend appears to be linked to a decline in pay increases that workers receive when they switch employers. Smaller raises give workers less incentive to switch jobs and move house.... "It suggests that people have fewer choices," Ms. Wozniak said, which also leads to employers having fewer job candidates. "You're constrained in some way and that may mean you're not reaching your full potential as a worker, as a firm or as an economy."

[Demographics:] people ages 18 through 24 move around more than people in other age groups. People born in the U.S. move at a slightly higher rate than foreign-born residents. The rate is lower for households with two earners than one, and for those with children than those without. And the rate rises with the level of a person's education, with college graduates moving to a different state at roughly twice the rate of high school graduates.

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