The ongoing U.S. economic recovery is now improving the fortunes of every major metropolitan area of the country, at least according to data characterizing activity through February. According to the Labor Department, employment expanded in all fifty-one U.S. metropolitan with a population of one million or more in February compared with a year earlier, including in Baltimore.
Not surprisingly, no region of the country has added more jobs than the San Jose metropolitan areas, which encompasses Silicon Valley. The number of jobs in the San Jose region expanded by five point four percent between February two thousand fourteen and February two thousand fifteen. Employment totals also climbed rapidly in Atlanta and in Louisville. Unemployment data also indicate progress.
Among the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, only New Orleans has experienced an increase in unemployment over the past year, in part because more people have begun to search for work there. Job growth in the Baltimore metropolitan area has been mediocre over the past year, and the region’s unemployment rate of five point eight percent is above the national average.
