Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

This list of the 50 biggest metro areas by job postings per 1000 people is somewhat misleading (the more interesting metric might be something like job postings per job seekers, but that's a squishier number), but telling nonetheless. [Link courtesy of Andrew Sullivan.] Three trends pop out at me:

* Oof for the Big Apple and for Michicaliflarivada.

* Yet another indication of the growing clout of the federal government under Obama.

* In contrast, I say "phew" in relief that creative and techy places like San Jose, Austin, Seattle, and Boston have relatively high hiring rates - you don't want those agglomerations of smart and innovative dudes and dudettes to shrink, because that's where and how the next great breakthroughs are going to emerge. (Although, ironically, this month's Wired Magazine has a nice piece called "Go Ahead, Fire Me," which argues that losing your job is the on-ramp for getting entrepreneurial and changing the world.)

Lastly, what's up with Baltimore? Very cool to see the Charm City scoring high. Anyone know a backstory there?