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Southern Metros Fare Well in Slowing Job Market

Employment gains across the country are continuing to slow. New jobs added in the top 10 metros for the year ending in October totaled 461,000, down 12% from the month before, when the top 10 added 523,800 jobs, according to an analysis from RealPage.

Job creation is strong in the South, which is home to five of the top 10 metros in the nation for growth in October. Washington, D.C., and Charlotte joined the list for that month. Houston, Dallas and Atlanta held their spots in the top 10.

Also remaining in the top 10 in October were major Northeast markets — New York and Philadelphia, as well as West metros Los Angeles and Phoenix. In the Midwest, Indianapolis returned to the list. St. Louis and Riverside both fell out of the top 10, according to RealPage.

The New York-White Plains metro led the country with an increase of 101,000 jobs for the year ended in October, the only metro with more than 100,000 jobs added. Houston was second with 60,200 new jobs and Dallas with 58,300. Newcomers Washington, D.C., and Charlotte added 32,900 and 29,300, respectively.

Markets 11 through 20 saw total job gains drop 13.3% from their annual sum in September, providing further evidence of a cooling jobs market, the report said. Some 13 of RealPage’s top 150 markets reported annual job losses or no gain for the year, which was two more than last month. Major markets reporting annual job losses include Seattle, which was affected by the Boeing strike, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee and Portland, Oregon.

Similar to job gains, the annual percentage change in employment continued to slow in October. None of the top 10 metros had job growth of more than 4%.

The top market for job growth change was Stockton-Lodi, California, with a 3.9% increase in jobs. Boise City, Idaho, was second at 3.8% and Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina in third at 3.4%. College Station, Texas; Lincoln, Nebraska; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan; Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Florida; Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pennsylvania/New Jersey; and Macon-Warner Robins, Georgia were the remaining top 10 metros for job growth.

Three Florida markets dropped off the top job growth list – Naples, Tallahassee and Gainesville – due to Hurricane disruptions, and Asheville, North Carolina, recorded a 3% decline in employment, likely due to major flooding. Akron, Des Moines, as well as Columbus and Dayton, Ohio, had declining employment through October, according to the report.

Reprinted with permission from the Friday, 22 November 2024 06:19:29 EST online edition of GlobeSt © 2024 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited, contact 877-256-2472 or reprints@alm.com.