Overall the U.S. ended up 2014 with very strong job growth adding 2.952 million net new jobs. It was the best full-year increase in total new jobs since 1999. The last boom in the economy occurred in 2006, when in March of that year the country had added 239,250 new jobs per month average for the prior 12 months. In comparison, the U.S. added an average 246,000 new jobs per month in 2014.
While the country did well in 2014, some of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and divisions did better and some worse. The very first blog in this series (October 2008) included the TINSTAANREM clause—There Is No Such Thing As A National Real Estate Market. All real estate is local in nature. That also holds for the economy and job growth rates since the supply and demand for workers occurs at the local level.
So what were the best MSAs regarding job growth in 2014? The following list shows the top 20 MSAs and Divisions in 2014 based on percentage growth. 351 of the 413 total MSAs and Divisions posted positive job growth in 2014, 11 stayed the same and 51 notched job losses.
When ranked for the most new jobs created, the list changes somewhat. The following shows the top 20. All of these MSAs and Divisions created at least 40,000 net new jobs in 2014.
The 20 MSAs with the largest percentage job losses are shown in the following table. The most distressed employment market in the country last year was the Atlantic City-Hammonton MSA in New Jersey which lost 6 out of every 100 jobs (5.96 percent).
Overall the U.S. did extremely well in job growth in 2014, but some markets are still losing jobs.
The attached PDF lists all 413 MSAs and Divisions.
Jobs are everything. Period.
Email back if you have any questions.
Ted