Last month we said good-bye to an economically dismal 2008 and held out hope for a better 2009.
Well, so far the economic news in 2009 has been far from hopeful. Perhaps the worst news, at least locally, came yesterday as Sprint-Nextel announced plans to eliminate 8,000 jobs by the end of March. Sprint was not alone in delivering gloomy news yesterday, as Caterpillar, Pfizer, Home Depot and ING also announced significant layoffs. So far this year more than 200,000 job cuts have been announced nationwide.
According to The Kansas City Star, about 2,000 of the jobs Sprint eliminates will be in the Kansas City area.
Speaking of Kansas City employment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released data showing a loss of 8,900 jobs in the Kansas City area between November 2007 and November 2008. The Missouri side of the region accounted for 4,900 of those lost jobs, while 4,000 were on the Kansas side. Most of the job loss occurred in the Construction, Manufacturing and Trade, Transportation and Utilities sectors. Education and Health Service saw modest gains. For details, see the BLS news release.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Conference of Mayors Predicts Gloomy Employment Picture for 2009
The United States Conference of Mayors and the Council for the New American City recently released employment forecasts for all metropolitan areas across the country. Out of 363 metros, only two are projected to see employment rise in 2009 — St. George, Utah and McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission, Texas.
The Kansas City metro area is forecast to lose 20,100 jobs in 2009, or 2 percent of the regional total. This predicted decline is right on par with the national metro average, which would indicate that the impact of this recession will be approximately the same here as the nation overall. The decline also matches the projected employment loss from MARC’s 2009 economic forecast, which predicted just under 20,000 jobs lost in calendar year 2009.
The impact of this recession appears to be more focused on some Sunbelt metros. The Florida metros of Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa-St. Petersburg, along with Las Vegas, Nev. and San Jose, Calif., are among the large metros expected to see employment drop by 3 percent or more. Not coincidentally, these metros were also among the leaders in housing value growth. As a result, the popping of the housing bubble has had its greatest impact there.
The Kansas City metro area is forecast to lose 20,100 jobs in 2009, or 2 percent of the regional total. This predicted decline is right on par with the national metro average, which would indicate that the impact of this recession will be approximately the same here as the nation overall. The decline also matches the projected employment loss from MARC’s 2009 economic forecast, which predicted just under 20,000 jobs lost in calendar year 2009.
The impact of this recession appears to be more focused on some Sunbelt metros. The Florida metros of Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa-St. Petersburg, along with Las Vegas, Nev. and San Jose, Calif., are among the large metros expected to see employment drop by 3 percent or more. Not coincidentally, these metros were also among the leaders in housing value growth. As a result, the popping of the housing bubble has had its greatest impact there.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Regional Foreclosures up 35 Percent in 2008
In 2008, 13,609 properties in the Kansas City entered into some stage of foreclosure. All told, this amounts to 1.56 percent of all properties in the metro and is a 35 percent increase from 2007. Kansas City ranked 49th out of the largest 100 metros.
Most of the high-foreclosure-rate metros were in the Western United States or the Sunbelt. Stockton, Calif., was the metro with the highest percentage of properties in foreclosure, at 9.46 percent, followed by Las Vegas (8.89 percent) and Riverside/San Bernardino (8.02 percent).
Many economists agree that a stable (or at least stabilizing) housing market is crucial to recovering from the recession. These foreclosure figures would indicate that recovery might still be a long way off.
Most of the high-foreclosure-rate metros were in the Western United States or the Sunbelt. Stockton, Calif., was the metro with the highest percentage of properties in foreclosure, at 9.46 percent, followed by Las Vegas (8.89 percent) and Riverside/San Bernardino (8.02 percent).
Many economists agree that a stable (or at least stabilizing) housing market is crucial to recovering from the recession. These foreclosure figures would indicate that recovery might still be a long way off.
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