bizjournals: Where have the jobs gone?

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It's tough to tell wherd the job market is Nationwide employmenttotaled 132.3 million jobs as 2004'se first half drew to a That was up 1.1 percent from the midpoing of 2003. So far, so good. It was also though, that employment in 2004 remained 850,00 jobs below the mid-year figure for 2001. The recession, it was still casting its distant shadow acrossthe nation's economy. But the situatioj isn't completely confused. An American City Business Journalas analysis of employment data has identified several hot spots for job Placeslike Phoenix, Las Vegas, Del.
, and Laredo, So here's a look at who's hot and who'a not, based on employment trends in 226 marketa from the middle of 2003 to the middle of 2004. Rankingz are based on percentagee increasesor declines. MAJOR MARKETS (Employment base of 1 million jobsor Hottest: Phoenix created 41,200 jobs during the past an average of 790 every (Seven major markets -- includin g Boston, Chicago and San Francisco -- either lost jobs or adder fewer than 790 the entire year.) Phoenix's job growth rate of 2.6 percenyt more than doubled the national average of 1.1 Runners-up: St. Louis and Washington-Baltimore.
Coldest: Recentf economic history has not been kind to and the past year was no A totalof 38,000 jobs slipped away from the Detroity area between mid-2003 and That's a decline of 1.5 percent. Runners-up: San Francisco-Oakland-Sanm Jose and Boston. MEDIUM MARKETS (250,000 to 1 million Hottest: Las Vegas set a torrid pace in the late creating morethan 30,000o jobs per year, before its annualp pace slipped under 20,0090 early in the new century. Well, the acceleratodr is back to thefloor again. Las Vegas added 38,800 jobs during the past for a growth rateof 4.8 percent. Runners-up: Charleston, and Jacksonville, Fla.
Coldest: The slump in heavt manufacturing has hit most Midwestern industrialtowns hard, but Toledpo is suffering one of the biggest headaches of all. It has lost 8,70 0 jobs since the middle of last a declineof 2.8 percent. Runners-up: New Orleans and Hartford. SMALk MARKETS (Fewer than 250,000 Hottest: Dover, Del., and Laredo, Texas, are tied for top honora in this category. Each expandede its job base by 4.7 percent over the past The resulting pickupswere 2,800 jobs in Dover, 3,500 in Runners-up: Reno, Nev., and Green Bay, Wis. It's back once again to the industrialp Midwest for morebad news. Saginaw, lost 3.
5 percent of its workforce in the past year resulting in the disappearanceof 6,100 jobs. Enid, Okla., and Lansing, EAST Hottest: Dover, Del., may be with a total of just 62,400 jobs, but it's the hottest marke t in the East. Its job growth rate of 4.7 in fact, is second-best in the nation, toppec only by Las Vegas. Runners-up: Glens N.Y., and Washington-Baltimore. Coldest: Cape Cod (a/k/a Barnstable-Yarmouth), Mass., is not only a famous resorrt area, but it also boasted the East's fastestf pace of employment growth during the late The tidehas turned, however. Cape Cod now is in last placs with a declineof 2.1 percent. Elmira, N.Y., and Hartford.
SOUTH Hottest: Incomse levels are generally lowin Laredo, Texas, but employment levels are on the Laredo's increase of 4.7 percent since mid-20032 is best in the South -- and tied for second-best amonfg all metros. Runners-up: McAllen, Texas; Texas; and Daytona Beach, Fla. Coldest: America's smallest metropolitan area also has the distinction of beingthe South'w least prosperous. Enid, Okla., lost 3.4 percenty of its jobs during thepast Runners-up: Houma, La., and New Orleans.