All Economics is Local

75 Percent of Nation's Top Metro Areas Post Increasing Foreclosure Activity in First Half of 2010

154 of the 206 U.S. metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity even while foreclosure activity decreased in nine of the 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rates. Four states -- Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona -- accounted for all top 20 metro foreclosure rates. Florida led the way, with nine of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates, followed by California with eight, Nevada with two and Arizona with one. Yahoo Finance (includes full metro listing)

The Best Cities For Working Mothers

Forbes begans with the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. while working under the notion that "best" means different things to different women. Job opportunities, high earnings potential and a budget-friendly cost of living come into play, not to mention employment rates (ideally high) as well as women's average weekly earnings. But it's also important for moms to look into other factors too, like health care. Forbes

Export Nation: How U.S. Metros Lead National Export Growth & Boost Competitiveness

Comprehensive analysis of U.S. exports of goods and services produced in America’s 100 largest metropolitan areas. Brookings

 

America's Best Places to Live

These cities -- even now -- boast plenty of jobs, great schools, safe streets, low crime, lots to do, charm, and other features that make a town great for raising a family. CNNMoney

 

Most Affordable Places To Live Well

Ten spots where quality of life is high, homeownership is within reach of many and fun is to be had. Forbes

The 8 Most Expensive Cities In America

Based on Mercer's annual cost of living survey that is is designed to help corporations set salaries for international employees. Business Insider

294 OUT OF 337 METRO AREAS LOSE CONSTRUCTION JOBS FROM MAY 2009 TO 2010

Construction employment declined in 294 metropolitan areas between May 2009 and May 2010, increased in 16 metro areas, and held steady in another 27. Eleven metro areas have lost over 10,000 construction jobs each during the past 12 months, while one–in–three cities added 1,000 or more jobs during the same period.

Most jobs were added in Columbus, Ohio while Eau Claire, Wisconsin has the highest rate of job growth; Chico, California has highest rate of decline and Chicago loses the most jobs. Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America

America's Recovery Capitals

Analysis and annual growth prospects of employment and economic output for the 25 largest metro areas in each of the four regions of the country--the South, the Midwest, the West and the Northeast. Those that made the list had the best combination of job and ouput growth, equally weighted. Forbes

Census Bureau Releases 2009 City Population Estimates

The U.S. Census Bureau released July 1, 2009, population estimates for each of the nation's incorporated places, including cities, boroughs and villages and minor civil divisions, such as towns and townships.

Among cities with populations over 100,000, Frisco TX grew the fastest between 2008 and 2009, up 6.2 percent. Cities in Texas claimed four spots in the ten fastest growing growing places. US Census Bureau

June 2010 — MetroMonitor: Tracking Economic Recession and Recovery in America’s 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas

The U.S. economy’s performance is driven largely by that of its major metropolitan economies. All of those economies saw some economic growth in the first quarter of 2010, and some returned to their pre-recession levels of output, but none recovered its pre-recession employment level. Most continued to lose jobs and experience high unemployment rates. Brookings

Top 10 Metro Areas with Decrease in Unemployment Rates

The top 10 metro areas where the unemployment rate has reduced the most compared to one year earlier EconPost

Housing Stays Highly Affordable For Fifth Consecutive Quarter

Housing hovered for the fifth consecutive quarter near its highest level of affordability in 19 years.

Indianapolis-Carmel and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa., shared the ranking as the most affordable major housing markets in the country. In Indianapolis, which has held this top ranking for nearly five years, almost 95 percent of all homes sold were affordable to households earning the area’s median family income of $68,700.

New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J., continued to lead the nation as its least affordable major housing market during the first quarter of 2010. Slightly less than 21 percent of all homes sold during the quarter were affordable to those earning the New York area’s median income of $65,600. This was the eighth consecutive quarter that the New York metropolitan division has occupied this position. National Association of Home Builders   Detailed metro tables

2010 Quality of Life Metro Rankings

Criteria: The study looked for well-rounded metros with healthy economies, light traffic, moderate costs of living, impressive housing stocks, and strong educational systems. Portfolio/bizjournals.com

Kiplinger's Best Cities 2010

Using a formula that identifies cities with current and likely future growth in high-quality jobs and income, also weighed affordability and public-transit infrastructure --plus a measurement of the "creative class." Kiplinger

Health and Community Fitness Status of the 50 Largest U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Report reflects a composite of preventive health behaviors, levels of chronic disease conditions, health care access, and community resources and policies that support physical activity. American College of Sports Medicine 

2009 Car Theft Hot Spots

Of the 366 MSAs within the United States, 304 (83 percent) of them reported lower thefts than they experienced in 2008. As suggested in the FBI’s 2009 preliminary semi-annual crime report published last December, vehicle theft may drop by as much as 18 percent from 2008’s numbers once the final figures are tabulated in the fall. National Insurance Crime Bureau

Experian Ranks Top 20 Major U.S. Metropolitan Areas by Average Debt Per Consumer

Ranking of the average debt per consumer in the top 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas. Approximately 65 percent of these areas exceeded the national average consumer debt, which was $24,775 in March. Within the top 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas, Seattle is the most debt-burdened city, coming in at almost $2,000 above the national average debt per consumer, while Los Angeles has the lowest average debt. Experian Press Release

Metro Occupational Employment and Wages Summary-2009

Retail salespersons, cashiers, general office clerks, combined food preparation and serving workers, and registered nurses were among the occupations with the highest employment in 2009. Occupations with the lowest employment included watch repairers,astronomers, and radio operators.

Wages for the selected occupations varied by metropolitan area. For example, among the metropolitan areas shown, mean wages for cashiers ranged from $7.86 in Anniston-Oxford, Ala., to $10.54 in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., while wages for team assemblers ranged from $11.68 in Rocky Mount, N.C., to $25.14 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Bureau of Labor Statistics News Release   Metro Details

POLICOM Corporation Releases 2010 Metro Economic Strength Rankings

The rankings do not reflect the latest ‘hotspot’ or boom town, but the areas which have the best economic foundation. While most communities have slowed or declined during this recession, the strongest areas have been able to weather the storm. Policom  Report PDF

The State of Metropolitan America

The State of Metropolitan America uses data to show that our nation faces five "new realities," currently redefining the country. In each of these five areas, the nation reached critical milestones in the 2000s that make those underlying realities too large to ignore any longer. And large metropolitan areas—the collections of cities, suburbs, and rural areas that house two-thirds of America’s population—lay squarely on the front lines of those trends. Brookings

Metro Areas Best at Meeting Basic Needs

Among the 187 U.S. metro areas Gallup and Healthways surveyed in 2009, Holland-Grand Haven, Mich., led the nation in providing basic necessities -- such as safe places to exercise and easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables -- to its residents. Following closely behind Holland-Grand Haven are Madison, Wis., and two Iowa metro areas, all of which scored above 87.0 on the Gallup-Healthways Basic Access Index, a 13-item measure of Americans' access to basic necessities in the cities or areas where they live. Gallup

Juju.com Releases May 2010 Job Search Difficulty Index for Major Cities

The updated Job Search Difficulty Index measures the difficulty of finding employment in major cities around the country. The Index is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed workers in each metro area, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), by the number of jobs in Juju's  index of millions of online jobs in the United States. Juju.com 

Slowing of Quarterly Home Price Declines

The best performing markets manage to post positive gains in the face of tax credits that ended in April. Honolulu, Hawaii saw quarterly prices rise to 3.3 percent, pushing it to the number one position on the list this month. The 15 lowest performing markets post comparatively steep price declines—averaging an -11.1 percent price change. Clear Capital

America's Most Livable Cities

Measuring five data points in the country's 200 largest metro areas: unemployment, crime, income growth, the cost of living, and artistic and cultural opportunities.Forbes

Twenty Most Stressed, Least Stressed Counties

The 20 most economically stressed counties with populations of at least 25,000 and their March 2010 Stress scores, according to The Associated Press Economic Stress Index. Yahoo News via the AP Economic Stress Index

Metro Foreclosure Hot Spots Buck National Trend in First Quarter With Annual Declines in Foreclosure Activity

Seventy-seven percent of Nation's Large Metros Post Year-Over-Year Increases in Foreclosure Activity, but Eight of Top 10 Metro Foreclosure Rates Decline From Q1 2009. Cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona once again accounted for all top 20 foreclosure rates in the first quarter among metropolitan areas with a population of at least 200,000 even while the majority of those top metros reported decreasing foreclosure activity from the first quarter of 2009. Realtytrac via Yahoo Finance

Most Polluted & Cleanest Cities

The American Lung Association State of the Air 2010 report ranks the metropolitan areas by the levels of ozone and particle pollution during 2006, 2007 and 2008. For particle pollution, they rank separately the areas with high year-round (annual average) levels and high short-term levels (24-hour) found in monitoring sites across the United States, they take the data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compile the rankings. American Lung Association

The Worst Cities For Jobs

In this least good year in decades someone has to sit at the bottom. For the most part, the denizens are made up of "usual suspects" from the long-devastated Rust Belt region around the Great Lakes. But as in lat year's survey, there's also a fair-sized contingent of former hot spots that now seem to resemble something closer to black holes. Forbes

Best And Worst Places For Business And Careers

This year's best places for business and careers form a corridor between the Southeast and the Northwest with clusters in the Great Plains and Intermountain West. California and the Rust Belt dominate the bottom of the list. Forbes

America's Worst-Selling Housing Markets

Forbes looked at price growth and sales rates in the country's 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas. We took the cities in the midst of year-over-year price declines, based on National Association of Realtors data, then calculated how quickly these cities are shedding inventory from their peaks, which occurred between four and six months ago. Forbes