"Florida's Job Market
Hottest in Nation" Study
State has country's 5 of the 10 best markets, Vegas and
Phoenix runners-up.
By G. Scott Thomas
Bizjournals.com
Updated: 2:08 p.m. ET Oct. 2, 2006
If you're looking for a new job, concentrate your search
in Florida.
That state is home to five of the 10 hottest labor markets
in America, according to a new Bizjournals study. Cape Coral-Fort Myers
holds first place in the national rankings, while Sarasota-Bradenton,
Orlando, Lakeland and Miami-Fort Lauderdale are also in the top 10.
These Florida markets rank high because they all enjoy strong job growth
and low unemployment rates:
- The workforce in Cape Coral-Fort Myers has expanded by 32.5 percent during
the past five years, the fastest growth rate among the nation's 100 largest
metropolitan areas. Sarasota-Bradenton is second in that category at 26.8
percent.
- The five Florida markets have collectively added half-a-million jobs since
2001, led by gains of 194,900 jobs in Miami and 158,000 in Orlando.
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Sarasota-Bradenton have the lowest unemployment
rates in the national study group, 2.6 percent. The only non-Florida market
below 3 percent is Boise, Idaho.
Bizjournals uses a nine-part formula to analyze the
employment situations in the 100 major markets. The current ratings are based on
midyear data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, covering the
period from 2001 to the current year.
First place belongs to Cape
Coral-Fort Myers, a
Southwest Florida metro that has 230,000 jobs. A steady influx of
new residents, coupled with a healthy tourism sector, are driving the rapid
expansion of that employment base, which is growing by almost 1,000 jobs a
month.
The two runners-up in Bizjournals' standings are No. 2 Las
Vegas and No. 3 Phoenix, which have enjoyed consistently strong growth since
2002.
Las Vegas has boosted its employment by 25.6 percent in five
years, the fastest rate posted by any market outside of Florida. Phoenix has
added 271,900 jobs over the same period, the biggest gain in raw numbers for any
metropolitan area.
Rounding out the top 10 in Bizjournals' rankings are
Sarasota-Bradenton; Orlando; Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.; Lakeland,
Fla.; Boise; Washington, D.C.; and Miami-Fort Lauderdale.
At the bottom of the standings is New Orleans, the coldest
job market in America.
Hurricane Katrina, which battered the Gulf Coast last year,
cost New Orleans roughly one-third of its employment base. The area has 188,600
fewer jobs now than five years ago, an astounding decline of 30.2 percent.
Close behind on the list of coldest markets are Detroit and
San Jose, which have both suffered serious losses since 2001.
San Jose, reeling from the dot-com bust at the beginning of
the decade, is still down 162,300 jobs from 2001. But it seems to have begun a
small rebound, actually adding 3,000 jobs in the past year.
Detroit, heavily dependent on the auto industry, has been
struggling because of high gas prices and an inventory backlog. It has lost
123,300 jobs during the past half-decade, including 13,000 in the past year
alone.
The remaining markets in the bottom 10 are Dayton, Ohio;
Lansing, Mich.; Rochester, N.Y.; Springfield, Mass.; Boston; Milwaukee and
Worcester, Mass.
The 100 areas in the study group collectively have 92.4
million jobs, which is up 2.5 percent from 90.2 million five years ago.
