Jackson Free Press

The city of Jackson again ranked high in a report released by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit, non-partisan public-policy organization. The institution's quarterly MetroMonitor report now places the city as No. 9 on the list of its "strongest 20 metros" category for the third quarter of 2009.

MetroMonitor is a quarterly barometer of the health of America's 100 largest metropolitan economies, and examines employment, product output and housing condition trends. The Brookings Institution's Web site states that it compiles the report in an attempt to "look beneath the hood" of national economic statistics, to get a living portrait of the recession's impact on metropolitan economies.

Jackson successfully ranked 14th in the list of 100 cities regarding employment, with a 0.2 percent gain in employment among metro residents in this quarter, compared to a national average employment decrease of 0.5 percent for this same quarter. (The area's employment was still 2.1 percent down from a 2007 peak, but that decrease contrasts a 4.6 decrease in the national average.

Housing prices remained robust in Jackson, compared to prices elsewhere. The Jackson metro ranked No. 2 in that list, with a one-year price increase of 4.4 percent—a sharp contrast to the average 3 percent drop in the 100-city list featured on the Brookings' report.

Jackson's gross metropolitan product also saw a more substantial increase than the national average, with the area reporting a 1.5 percent increase in the third quarter, versus a 0.8 percent increase in the national average.

The numbers match a trend of improvement that the MetroMonitor recorded for the second quarter as well. In late September, Brookings' MetroMonitor again ranked Jackson as one of the top 20 strongest-performing areas out of the 100 cities they surveyed based on home prices and employment.

Downtown Jackson Partners President Ben Allen, who is also a former city councilman, called the city "recession-proof" in light of the September rankings. Allen, who could not be reached for comment today, pointed out in September that the city has excellent employment drivers, including a good K-12 and higher education system, and a well educated workforce—as well as a large number of government and hospital jobs.

The most recent report indicated that municipalities suffering the least or showing signs of having the strongest economic recoveries since the start of the recession remained in the country's southern midsection, particularly Texas. The report reflected some improvement in the state of New York and the Midwest, but recognized that the weakest performers shifted even more strongly toward California, thanks to continued increases in unemployment. Florida, too, remained one of the lowest-ranking metropolitan performers nationwide.

The report, like the one before it, remained optimistic regarding the overall state of the recession. It declared the recession "over" in the view of most economists reading of third quarter 2009 indicators, such as the U.S. gross domestic product increasing at a 2.8 percent annual rate, after four consecutive quarters of contraction and increasing housing prices.

The report added, however, that the recovery remains "fragile," with anti-recession government programs like the "cash-for-clunkers" program, the first-time homebuyer tax credit, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's economic stimulus government slated for expiration.

"As the effects of these policies recede, the recovery could slow or give way to yet another recession or a prolonged period of economic stagnation," the report warns.

Previous Comments

ID

154614

Comment

All this good news about Jackson lately! Looks like the word is getting out. We're movin' on up!

Author

golden eagle

Date

2009-12-31T14:13:24-06:00

ID

154615

Comment

By "Metro" are they referring to the tri county area?

Author

bill_jackson

Date

2009-12-31T14:42:25-06:00

ID

154617

Comment

I believe it refers to the city and our bedroom communities that feed from us—the metropolitan area. Thus, "metro."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-12-31T16:03:21-06:00