Jobs are everything to the economy and ultimately to the demand for real estate. The level of growth varies both geographically and across time. High level of job growth (both in the number and percentage change) is a primary indicator of economic health.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics currently reports monthly job growth rates on a seasonally adjusted basis for 436 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Divisions. The following table shows the 40 having the greatest percentage gain in jobs in the 12-months ending September 2019.
The next table shows the 48 MSAs and Divisions that posted net job losses in the 12-months ending September 2019, sorted by percentage job loss.
Just as with equities, prior job creation performance (or loss) does not guaranty future gains (or losses). Some MSAs and Divisions consistently out- or under-perform the market. The next table shows the top-performing job gain markets equally weighted by job gain ranks for 12-month, 2-year, 5-year and 10-year periods. These metros consistently outperformed. Reno was the top-performing job market in the past 10-years, ranking 3rd best out of the 436 MSAs and Divisions in 12-month job growth, 4th best in 2 years, 2nd best in 5-years and 17th best in 10-years. There is duplication within Divisions in this group of 50. The Dallas-Ft Worth-Arlington MSA, for example, ranked 20th overall, while the Dallas-Plano-Irving Metro Division — a subset of the MSA — ranked 12th.
Those MSAs and Divisions with the poorest job creation performance using the 12-month, 2-year, 5-year and 10-year time periods are shown in the next table.
The next table shows the 50 MSAs and Divisions with the largest total gain in jobs in the past 12-months.
The metrics for 12-month, 2-year-, 5-year and 10-year job growth rates are shown for all 436 MSAs and Divisions in the attached PDF and include the net change in jobs and the total number of jobs as of the end of September 2019. Click here to see pdf.
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