Job growth ranks city 24th in US

August 24th, 2016

22,200 added since 2012; top 20 includes Columbus, Elkhart

Job growth in Fort Wayne was the 24th strongest in the United States between June 2012 and June 2016, according to a survey by 24/7 Wall Street.

The survey looked at the metropolitan areas with the largest changes in employment. Unemployment rates, the size of the labor force and employment levels are taken from a monthly survey of households conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The survey found that Fort Wayne had added 22,200 jobs in the previous four years to reach an employment of level of 208,888 jobs. That is an 11.9 percent increase in employment. The metro area’s unemployment rate was 4.3 percent.

Columbus, Indiana, was ranked 19th in the country. It added 5,000 jobs, a 13 percent growth rate. Indianapolis added 116,000 jobs in the four-year period, a 13.2 percent growth rate, and had a 4.1 percent unemployment rate. It was ranked 17th.

Elkhart-Goshen added 12,500 jobs during the period, a 14 percent growth rate. It had a 3.9 percent unemployment rate and ranked 10th nationally.

“With strong leadership and innovative approaches, we’ve positioned Fort Wayne as a leader in economic development opportunities, job growth and amenities that make us attractive for businesses and families,” said John Perlich, a spokesman for the city of Fort Wayne.

Perlich added that business clusters such as health care, education, hospitality, advanced manufacturing and insurance create a diversified economy that shows positive results. He also pointed out that WalletHub, a personal finance website, has rated Fort Wayne the fifth best-run city and Niche.com, an online ranking and reviews site, rated it as having the lowest cost of living.

The fastest-growing metro areas in the country by rate of job growth were Bend-Redmond, Oregon; St. George, Utah; Provo-Orem, Utah; Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida.