Saturday, January 21, 2012
Economic recovery is still a long way away for the vast majority of U.S. cities, according to a new report produced for city mayors and urban proponents.
Of the 363 metropolitan areas that lost jobs during the Great Recession, only 26 so far have returned to their previous employment level. By the end of this year, only 26 more are projected to reclaim all of their jobs.
And for the 80 cities impacted the most by the recession, it will take them at least five years to get back the jobs they lost.
Both Democratic and Republican mayors have criticized Congress for not doing more to help local communities get back on their feet.
“We’re looking for a partnership with the Congress to put America back to work,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, told The New York Times. “We’re looking for the Congress to do its job. If we were to grade the 112th Congress, I think you’d have to say the midterm report card grade would be very clear: an F for failure.”
Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa, Arizona, a Republican, echoed Villaraigosa's complaints, saying of federal lawmakers regarding the economy: "What have they done?"
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Few Cities Have Regained Jobs They Lost, Report Finds (by Michael Cooper, New York Times)
2012 Employment Forecast and the Impact of Exports (U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Council for the New American City) (pdf)
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