axcontrol, Author at AX Control, Inc.

How Your Guitar is Like a Nuclear Power Plant

The two things have more in common than meltdowns.

Guitar fretboard. Closeup view. Guitars and nuclear power plants have something in common. Sort of. — Yes, guitars and nuclear power plants have something in common. In a way. Kind of.

If you’ve ever Googled the phrase “nuclear power plant” and “guitar” together — and really, who hasn’t — you’ve probably watched several epic videos of guitarists playing in abandoned cooling towers. You may have even bought some picks off Amazon featuring mushroom clouds or radioactive radiation symbols(for the guitarist who needs nuclear-powered picking.)

But what you probably didn’t know, even after perusing all of the Google results, is sometimes nuclear power plants and guitars share components. It’s true. Yes, thermal power stations that work by splitting atoms may actually have a small commonality with your guitar.

(thanks to Dan Phelps for use of his video.)

It’s your capacitor — or it might be. Many guitarists prize vintage paper and oil capacitors because they say they give off a brighter, more complex tone that can’t be duplicated with newer capacitor stock.

Seven States Account for Half of Manufacturing Jobs Lost in April

Close up of part of an industrial facility. Manufacturing jobs were lost in 2020, but overall fared better than other sectors. — April saw more job contraction in the manufacturing sector than any time in the last 74 years.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate increased by 10.3 percentage points over the month of April. Manufacturing jobs experienced a 10.4% decline over that time with a cumulative job loss of just over 1.3 million. The industry has not felt such a contraction in employment in almost 75 years, the last time being September of 1945.

Labor Statistics on Manufacturing Jobs

Below is data pulled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics April report, broken down by state and compared to March 2020 employment numbers. The states posting the highest numbers of lost jobs have been highlighted.

March 2020 job numbers	State	April 2020 job numbers	Change	% change
272600	Alabama	248,400	-24,200	-8.88%
10,700	Alaska	9,200	-1,500	-14.02%
176,600	Arizona	172,700	-3,900	-2.21%
158100	Arkansas	150,500	-7,600	-4.81%
1,299,500	California	1,180,500	-119,000	-9.16%

149,500	Colorado	139,200	-10,300	-6.89%
161,900	Connecticut	149,400	-12,500	-7.72%
26,700	Delaware	24,300	-2,400	-8.99%
1,300	D.C.	1,200	-100	-7.69%
389,600	Florida	358,000	-31,600	-8.11%

399,200	Georgia	359,800	-39,400	-9.87%
13,900	Hawaii	10,700	-3,200	-23.02%
67,500	Idaho	66,400	-1,100	-1.63%
571,600	Illinois	521,700	-49,900	-8.73%
526,700	Indiana	448,400	-78,300	-14.87%

221,800	Iowa	211,400	-10,400	-4.69%
168,200	Kansas	157,200	-11,000	-6.54%
251,200	Kentucky	197,000	-54,200	-21.58%
135,100	Louisiana	125,000	-10,100	-7.48%
52,400	Maine	44,000	-8,400	-16.03%

112,800	Maryland	98,700	-14,100	-12.50%
242,000	Massachusetts	221,000	-21,000	-8.68%
615,900	Michigan	442,900	-173,000	-28.09%
317,200	Minnesota	295,900	-21,300	-6.72%
147,500	Mississippi	136,000	-11,500	-7.80%

274,700	Missouri	240,000	-34,700	-12.63%
19,900	Montana	17,900	-2,000	-10.05%
98,900	Nebraska	95,800	-3,100	-3.13%
58,500	Nevada	54,300	-4,200	-7.18%
70,600	New Hampshire	65,200	-5,400	-7.65%

251,700	New Jersey	218,500	-33,200	-13.19%
28,300	New Mexico	23,400	-4,900	-17.31%
435,900	New York	355,300	-80,600	-18.49%
470,800	North Carolina	419,800	-51,000	-10.83%
25,600	North Dakota	24,700	-900	-3.52%

697,700	Ohio	600,100	-97,600	-13.99%
135,400	Oklahoma	130,600	-4,800	-3.55%
192,500	Oregon	181,700	-10,800	-5.61%
571,100	Pennsylvania	497,300	-73,800	-12.92%
39,500	Rhode Island	37,200	-2,300	-5.82%

258,400	South Carolina	245,200	-13,200	-5.11%
43,600	South Dakota	42,700	-900	-2.06%
350,600	Tennessee	301,900	-48,700	-13.89%
904,100	Texas	858,800	-45,300	-5.01%
135,500	Utah	134,100	-1,400	-1.03%

29,000	Vermont	24,500	-4,500	-15.52%
239,900	Virginia	233,200	-6,700	-2.79%
289,600	Washington	261,500	-28,100	-9.70%
46,200	West Virginia	43,600	-2,600	-5.63%
478,000	Wisconsin	438,100	-39,900	-8.35%

9,900	Wyoming	9,700	-200	-2.02%
74,800	Puerto Rico	70,600	-4,200	-5.61%
800	Virgin Islands	800	0	0.00%

12721000		11,396,000	-1,325,000	-10.42%

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Nearly 10K Manufacturing Jobs Added in March in 12 States

Despite a shrinking job market due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the manufacturing sector showed job growth in twelve states.

A person cutting metal. Manufacturing jobs like this can pay well. — Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, US manufacturing jobs showed growth in twelve states.

Over 700,000 workers lost their jobs in March across all sectors of the economy; 34,000 of those were manufacturing jobs. While news of large manufacturing layoffs and furloughs like ones at GE and Boeing have sparked alarm about the strength of the industry as a whole, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows manufacturing posting significantly less than 1% job loss across all states. Twelve states, including Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah all posted gains in employment that totaled 9200 jobs during the month of March. Additionally, four states reported no job losses.

Data below is broken down by state and compared to February 2020 employment numbers. All data was sourced from the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Updated March employment numbers can be found in our next post regarding April unemployment. These numbers were updated and released by the BOL on May 22, 2020.

Manufacturing Jobs Data by State

State	Feb 2020	March 2020	change	% change
Alabama	270,400	272500	2,100	0.78%
Alaska	11,200	10900	-300	-2.68%
Arizona	176,900	177300	400	0.23%
Arkansas	159,600	158100	-1,500	-0.94%
California	1,306,600	1,304,500	-2,100	-0.16%

Colorado	150,500	149,000	-1,500	-1.00%
Connecticut	161,300	162,100	800	0.50%
Delaware	26,800	26,600	-200	-0.75%
District of Columbia	1,400	1,300	-100	-7.14%
Florida	388,100	389,100	1,000	0.26%

Georgia	402,000	401,100	-900	-0.22%
Hawaii	13,900	13,900	0	0.00%
Idaho	67,500	67,700	200	0.30%
Illinois	573,300	573,200	-100	-0.02%
Indiana	532,900	530,100	-2,800	-0.53%

Iowa	222,300	221,800	-500	-0.22%
Kansas	167,500	168,200	700	0.42%
Kentucky	252,200	251,700	-500	-0.20%
Louisiana	133,900	135,300	1,400	1.05%
Maine	52,300	52,100	-200	-0.38%

Maryland	113,700	112,500	-1,200	-1.06%
Massachusetts	243,000	242,800	-200	-0.08%
Michigan	621,600	619,200	-2,400	-0.39%
Minnesota	318,100	317,400	-700	-0.22%
Mississippi	148,600	147,700	-900	-0.61%

Missouri	276,300	274,600	-1,700	-0.62%
Montana	20,200	20,000	-200	-0.99%
Nebraska	99,000	98,900	-100	-0.10%
Nevada	59,000	58,400	-600	-1.02%
New Hampshire	71,200	70,800	-400	-0.56%

New Jersey	251,800	252,700	900	0.36%
New Mexico	28,800	28,800	0	0.00%
New York	436,600	435,800	-800	-0.18%
North Carolina	476,700	473,000	-3,700	-0.78%
North Dakota	25,600	25,700	100	0.39%

Ohio	700,900	698,300	-2,600	-0.37%
Oklahoma	137,600	137,400	-200	-0.15%
Oregon	193,200	192,300	-900	-0.47%
Pennsylvania	573,700	571,000	-2,700	-0.47%
Rhode Island	39,200	39,500	300	0.77%

South Carolina	258,400	258,400	0	0.00%
South Dakota	43,400	43,800	400	0.92%
Tennessee	354,100	353,900	-200	-0.06%
Texas	910,500	900,700	-9,800	-1.08%
Utah	135,400	136,300	900	0.66%

Vermont	29,300	29,000	-300	-1.02%
Virginia	241,400	240,100	-1,300	-0.54%
Washington	290,900	290,000	-900	-0.31%
West Virginia	46,200	45,800	-400	-0.87%
Wisconsin	477,600	477,400	-200	-0.04%

Wyoming	10,000	10,000	0	0.00%
Puerto Rico	75,300	75,000	-300	-0.40%
Virgin Islands	800	800	0	0.00%

Totals:	12,778,700	12744500		-0.27%

A chart showing manufacturing job numbers by state.