By Ruth Mantell,March 8, 2011WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — States’ unemployment rates vary widely and job seekers may be tempted to move to where the employment grass is greener, but it’s important to assess the situation carefully before you start packing your belongings.The unemployment rate in Nevada hit 14.9% in 2010, more than three times North Dakota’s rate of 3.9%. Does that mean job seekers should race to North Dakota?These industries are hiringThere are more openings in retail, professional services and health care, according to Taleo’s Shail Khiyara, who talks about where the job market is getting competitive and what makes for a good candidate these days. Stacey Delo reports.Sometimes there’s no choice — if survival means moving, those workers must take a job regardless — but people with some wiggle room should make an informed decision, experts said.“It may seem like all of the opportunities are in another state or another region,” said Don Spetner, an executive vice president at recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International. “But you really have to step back and say: ‘Are we in a cyclical mode?’ You might better off sticking it out and taking on debt.”Also, “it depends on what you do and what the opportunity is,” Spetner said. “If you are a foreclosure expert, you might want to move to Nevada.”Others agreed. “It depends on what types of industries are in the state that are driving the low unemployment rate,” said Jason Levin, district manager for career site Vault.com. “Unemployment rates are important gauges to look at, but there are underlying reasons” driving those rates, he said.Among workers laid off in the last 12 months who found new jobs, 23% relocated to a new city or state, according to survey results released in January from jobs site CareerBuilder.com. The economic downturn has been the catalyst for some workers to move, said Jennifer Grasz, a CareerBuilder.com spokeswoman.“There are a lot of people out of work. The reality for some workers is that they might not be able to find the right opportunities in their own backyard,” Grasz said. “The supply of talent might be outweighing the demand for it.”Family and finances add complexity to the decision about whether and where to move for a job. Also, outside of work, many are attached to their communities — friends, schools, parks, restaurants, bars, places of worship, and so on. Some families may be reluctant to move because of potential real-estate losses, and some have concerns about the impact of a move on their kids and spouses.One of the largest impediments to moving can be fear of the unknown, Grasz said. “You don’t really know what to expect until you are living in an area.”Consider costsMoving can be expensive and companies are less willing than they used to be to help offset workers’ moving costs. Relocation lump-sum payments are offered by 28% of companies, but some plan to reduce or cut those benefits, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2010 employee benefits survey.Another significant factor in the decision of whether to move: Living costs in the new area. The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, provides an online budget calculator that allows users to compare costs for different areas, including basics such as housing, food and child care.According to the calculator, it costs a two-parent-two-child family almost 50% more to live in the D.C. area than in Macon, Ga. While EPI’s data are a few years old, comparing results for different areas makes a basic point clear: it costs substantially more to live in some places than others. Use the EPI calculator.Before moving, workers with a job offer should figure out whether the overall compensation package is worth the move, Grasz said.“That goes beyond the immediate paycheck,” Grasz said. “It’s looking at whether there are growth opportunities. If you don’t see the opportunity to grow in that organization, then it might not be the right move for you. Is it an organization that will continue to invest in your development, your learning opportunities?”Workers also need to make sure that they have a comfortable cash cushion. A few years ago, conventional wisdom called for families to have three months of living expenses; now it’s more like six or nine months, Levin said.“If things were to go the wrong way, ensure that you can survive financially,” Levin said. “We often don’t consider job seeking and financial stability in the same conversation. But you have to have those conversations together. The economy has taught us that you need money on the side because you might be out of work.”Target key areas, and assess your skillsWorkers should identify all of the places they’d be willing to move, keeping the needs of their family in mind, and extend their job search heavily into those areas, said Meredith Haberfeld, a New York-based executive and career coach.“Tap your network for everyone you know who would be useful, and set up trips specifically to those areas to go network,” Haberfeld said.Workers can reduce costs by staying with friends or family while scouting a new city for a job.“You need to be in the particular area Monday through Friday so that you are going to industry events, getting those in-person meetings,” Levin said.Before moving, workers should make sure their skills will be transferrable to a new location, Levin said. “You have to evaluate your own skills set, your experiences, and whether those would mesh well with where you want to go,” Levin said. “Miami is not exactly a hub for investment banking.”In general, your skills will apply — you just need to be able to communicate how. “Speak to potential employers about how [your skills] are transferable to a new business,” Levin said. “At the end of the day it’s about connecting directly with your employers about what you’ve been doing.”State unemployment ratesThe Labor Department recently reported unemployment rates for each state in 2010.The five states with the lowest unemployment rates:• North Dakota, with a rate of 3.9%• Nebraska, 4.7%• South Dakota, 4.8%• Iowa, 6.1%• New Hampshire, 6.1%The five states with the highest unemployment rates:• Nevada, 14.9%• Michigan, 12.5%• California, 12.4%• Rhode Island, 11.6%• Florida, 11.5%Ruth Mantell is a MarketWatch reporter based in Washington.

Out With Fancy Spas, in With Budget Salons

By KAYLEEN SCHAEFER

November 26, 2008

UNLIKE some New Yorkers who can’t get enough of hand-pulled noodles or facsimiles of designer purses, Sheila Hurtado doesn’t make a habit of going to Chinatown to shop or dine. But in recent weeks the 35-year-old office manager who lives in Park Slope has found another reason to make the trip there — to see Wineeta Ranftle, an esthetician from Bangkok, who gives deep-cleansing facials in what was once an office supply closet for as little as $32.50.

“I’m trying to be frugal,” said Ms. Hurtado, who used to get $65 facials at the Rompal Salon in Park Slope, where the lighting is dim and the waiting room is stocked with chocolate and wine. In contrast, at Ms. Ranftle’s small fluorescent-lit space in a beauty supply warehouse, treatments are accompanied by a sound-track of wind chimes emanating from a portable CD player that hardly masks the ringing of office phones and thumping music from the clothing store downstairs.

Still, Ms. Hurtado said, “Wineeta gives me really good facials, and I can’t believe the price.”

In an era of economic austerity, Ms. Hurtado is among those who are trading down for luxuries they just can’t give up. Sure, budget beauty seekers have been haunting Chinatown and Koreatown for years, but the ailing economy is making $300 for a massage seem excessive — even for those who can afford it.

Take Meredith Haberfeld, 34, an executive coach in Williamsburg who has tried out expensive spas in New York, Las Vegas and elsewhere. “I’m repeatedly disappointed by the fancy spas,” she said. “Often, I feel like I just spent $300 and I didn’t even like it.”

Recently, Ms. Haberfeld’s quest for the ultimate foot rub led her to Feet Island in a basement on Mott Street, where a man she calls Dr. Joe works on her feet for 75 cents a minute.

Owners of budget salons in New York that offer everything from facials to eyelash extensions to hair-styling say that more and more women who claim they were once regulars at spas like Bliss or Haven in SoHo are showing up for treatments that will cost them less than half the price.

For example, at Sai Kay 21 on Bayard Street in Chinatown, where an hour and a half facial costs $55 — albeit in a room with a couple of other customers — the esthetician, Mandy Wong, said she recently noticed more non-Asian women at the salon.

“They come in groups to eat and get a facial,” she said. “Everything is a little cheaper here. It’s the Chinese style.”

“I thought my business would decrease in this economy,” said Grace Gao Macnow, the owner of Graceful Services, a Midtown spa that charges $60 for an hour qigong massage, “but instead it’s increased — some of my clients have a black Amex card and still they come here.”

The transition to a spa without rainfall showers, candles or mud baths, and space to pad around in a robe and slippers can be rough for some.

At Graceful Services, for example, there aren’t any lockers for customers to stash their shoes and bags in, which Ms. Macnow said was a problem for a recent visitor carrying a Gucci purse.

“She said, ‘I’m not putting my $2,000 purse in a bin with my shoes,’ ” said Ms. Macnow, who told her to “just lie down.”

The woman did, and after her massage, Ms. Macnow said the more-than-satisfied customer apologized for grumbling.

Recently, Ms. Ranftle, the beauty esthetician who works out of the warehouse on Broadway, said she had a new customer who, before she could begin the facial, asked Ms. Ranftle: “Did you wash your hands?”

“Some people are going to like my room and some people are going to say it’s not for me,” Ms. Ranftle said. “I don’t take it personally.”

Of course, there are those who have been partaking in unadorned spa experiences before the economy made them a necessity and are sorry to see their “secret” places flooded with bargain seekers.

In the last few months, Agnes Park, 29, a lawyer who lives in Manhattan, has noticed more non-Asian women than Asian women at Ebenezer Eyelash on 32nd Street in Koreatown, where lash extensions cost $90 for a full set, compared with about $300 at places like Shu Uemura. “It’s really hard to get appointments now,” she said. “I have to beg them. And this will be on a Tuesday night, not a Friday night when girls want to go out with their lashes.”

Jenn Falik, a beauty and style expert who’s made appearances on the Today Show and E! News, frequents salons like Hair Party 24, a 24-hour Korean hair salon on Madison Avenue and 28th Street, and a Chinese qigong massage place on 14th Street in the meatpacking district that is decorated only with a giant fish tank in the front. In the last several months, she has noticed that the latter has become decidedly busier.

“There was never anyone there,” she said. “It would be me, my husband, and the taxicab drivers with their cabs in neutral idling outside.”

But this summer, the waiting area was packed with guys who looked like they worked in investment banking and women who appeared to be on breaks from their jobs at local boutiques. “The cabdrivers would just get 15-minute treatments and be gone,” Ms. Falik said. “But these people were getting longer treatments. We had to sit in the dank waiting area and watch the fish eat the algae.”

Some hope they can fend off the crowds by refusing to reveal their cheap finds. Anna Bennett, 42, who lives in the Bronx and is an assistant to the dean at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, won’t review her Chinatown spots for facials on Yelp, a Web site for posting reviews, even though she writes about other places in the city. Her co-workers feel the same. One gets her hair straightened for $12 somewhere in Chinatown but refuses to give Ms. Bennett the name of the place.

“No matter how many times I ask, she won’t tell me the name of it,” she said. “She doesn’t want anyone to go there.”