Philly is 3rd Worst City for Job Growth, Says CareerBuilder
Photo by els1124 via Flickr
Philadelphia may have added 30,875 jobs from 2014 to 2015, but it was still the third-worst city for job growth in the United States, according to a new report from CareerBuilder and Emsi.
The study analyzed job numbers in 150 metro regions — comparing actual job growth with the amount of jobs each region should have gained based on the national average of 2 percent. Let’s break that down for Philly: If Philly’s workforce grew at 2 percent, it would have gained 57,502 jobs during the year — but it fell short of that number by 26,628 jobs. Yikes.
Dallas was the top city — adding a whopping 112,829 jobs from 2014 to 2015 — beating job-growth expectations by 44,871 jobs.
Of course, job growth itself doesn’t show the entire picture of the economy. Is Philly adding high-paying jobs? Is it bolstering its tech-savvy workforce? Are college graduates staying in town rather than bolting for New York or Washington, D.C.?
Philly got a few pieces of good news this week. Home Depot announced that it will hire 1,500 seasonal workers at its 33 Philadelphia-area stores — with some positions turning to full-time later on. Those are just the types of jobs that can entice people who have stop looking for work altogether to jump back into the workforce. Also this week, a Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce published a study finding that a majority of Philly business leaders say the city’s economic climate will be better in 2016 than 2015. (Interested in Philly-area jobs that pay really well? Check out this list of surprising jobs that pay $75,000 or more.)
But there’s also been some bad news in recent months. Cardone Industries announced that it’s laying off more than 1,300 people in lower Northeast Philly because it’s shipping jobs to Mexico. Meanwhile, Philly ranked near the bottom in tech job listing in a recent study from Indeed.com.
“Twenty-seven of the top 50 metros outperformed national employment growth from 2014 to 2015, which can have a positive ripple effect on other regional areas,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “The unique characteristics of their local economies played a large part in their growth, such as the booming tech industry in Silicon Valley or the tourism industry in Orlando. Meanwhile, jobs in the oil and gas industry took a hit, which had a major impact on the cities like Tulsa and Lafayette, which ranked at the bottom of our list. And even though major metros such as Chicago, New York and Philadelphia all added more than 30,000 new jobs from 2014 to 2015, they trailed national growth trends.”
Top five cities for job growth
| City | Total Employment in 2015 | Jobs added from 2014 to 2015 | Jobs expected to be added from 2014 to 2015 based on national job growth | Jobs added that beat the expected job growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas, TX | 3,386,930 | 112,829 | 67,959 | 44,871 |
| San Jose, CA | 1,081,948 | 60,716 | 21,197 | 39,519 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 5,976,673 | 159,477 | 120,745 | 38,732 |
| Seattle, WA | 1,981,802 | 78,082 | 39,515 | 38,567 |
| Miami, FL | 2,476,027 | 81,842 | 49,695 | 32,147 |
Bottom five cities for job growth
| City | Total Employment in 2015 | Jobs added from 2014 to 2015 | Jobs expected to be added from 2014 to 2015 based on national job growth | Jobs that fell short of expected job growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | 4,510,903 | 55,443 | 92,480 | -37,037 |
| New York, NY | 9,178,982 | 155,981 | 187,286 | -31,305 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 2,801,206 | 30,875 | 57,502 | -26,628 |
| New Orleans, LA | 564,920 | -2,491 | 11,778 | -14,268 |
| St. Louis, MO | 1,361,406 | 15,481 | 27,937 | -12,456 |
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