Florida Cities Lead List of Fastest-Growing Metros
Only Texas also had multiple locations on the list of fastest growing metropolitan areas.
Orlando, Florida is the fastest-growing major metropolitan area, with the addition of about 73,300 jobs in the 12 months ending in September, according to preliminary numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The metro’s 5.9 percent growth rate was followed by two other Florida metros at 4.4 percent growth: Jacksonville, which added about 30,200 jobs, and Miami, which added about 50,200.
Houston boasted the most nonfarm payroll jobs among metros in the top 10 at 3.1 million jobs, and its 4.3 percent growth ranked fifth.
A total of five metros in Florida were included in the top 10, including Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, while Texas was the only other state to have more than one metro make the top 10.
Austin’s 3.9 percent growth was good enough for seventh place on the list, according to the data crunched by the Austin Chamber of Commerce. The group found Dallas ranked 11th at 3.3 percent, Fort Worth 20th at 2.3 percent, and San Antonio 39th at 0.9 percent.
The Austin business organization also looked at Texas Workforce Commission data and found the professional and business services industry added the most jobs in the area—about 11,200, or 6.3 percent more. Meanwhile, the wholesale trade industry grew fastest at 12.9 percent, or about 6,700 jobs.
Both in Texas and nationally, construction and natural resources grew fastest, which still grew faster than average in Austin at 10 percent.
In August, Austin had the sixth-lowest unemployment among the 50 largest U.S. metros and TWC numbers available hint at sustained performance. September unemployment for Austin was 2.9 percent—the same as a year ago—and better than the next-closest major Texas metro of San Antonio at 3.3 percent.
Houston’s 4.1 percent unemployment was the highest among major Texas metros but also an improvement since last September, when the rate was 4.8 percent.
Dave Nyczepir is a News Editor at Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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