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Miami named a top 3 job market

by James McClister

Miami is the nation’s twelfth-best city for jobs, and has the country’s No. 3 job market, according to a new report from WalletHub.

The Magic City’s job market is likely to appeal to young professionals on the cusp of entering homeownership; however, the city’s current socioeconomic gap is still one of the most pronounced in the country.

In determining Miami’s job market rank, researchers considered a dozen data points – including job opportunities, employment growth, and industry variety, among others – and concluded that the city has exemplary opportunities. And a Nov. 2016 economic summary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics confirmed as much.

The summary stated the following: the area’s unemployment dropped from 5.3 percent a year earlier to 5.1 percent; costs for food and energy were down; and job growth was positive in every sector except manufacturing (down 0.1 percent) and information (down 1.2 percent), with significant increases in construction (4.6 percent) and professional and business services (3.7 percent).

An economic downside

The narrative was much different in the second tier of WalletHub’s analysis, though, as the city came in at No. 126 for its socioeconomic environment – which makes sense, as just last year Bloomberg branded the city the “most unequal” in the country.

“Miami-Dade now has more jobs than it had in 2007,” Florida International University Metropolitan Center Senior Fellow Kevin Grainer told Bloomberg. “The problem is that quality, and the wages, and the income of those jobs created have been significantly lower than they were in the past.”

Bloomberg reported that income disparity in Miami grew by 16.8 percent from 2014 to 2015. And on top of that, the city’s highest wage earners during that period accounted for more than 60 percent of the area’s aggregate household income. For every $1 of income the city’s lowest 20 percent makes, it top 5 percent makes $40, according to a report from the Miami Herald. Nationwide, the average ratio is closer to 1 to 29.

The City’s intervention

But the city of Miami isn’t blind to its socioeconomic disparities. In fact, it has a number of economic initiatives to help curb the negative trends, such as creating enterprise and empowerment zones, which incentivize businesses to operate in the areas and employ local residents. Additionally, the city offers free tax services to qualifying residents, and works with developers to revitalize its “Brownfield Sites,” which are defined as “abandoned, inactive, or under-used industrial or commercial properties where actual or perceived environmental issues complicate their sale, expansion, and/or redevelopment.”

The city’s efforts, and the efforts of local businesses, have not solved all of Miami’s economic problems, but they have cultivated a job market that’s counted among the best in the nation.

See our table below to see how Miami compares to other major markets:

Overall Rank City Total Score Job Market Rank Socioeconomic Environment Rank
1 Scottsdale, Ariz. 70.48 1 2
2 Plano, Texas 64.91 4 13
3 Orlando, Fla. 64.9 2 19
4 Sioux Falls, S.D. 64.72 5 11
5 San Francisco, Calif. 63.37 6 34
6 Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. 63.35 7 15
7 Chandler, Ariz. 62.71 16 8
8 Salt Lake City, Utah 62.54 10 25
9 Tempe, Ariz. 62.17 15 12
10 Raleigh, N.C. 61.29 13 40
11 Peoria, Ariz. 61.26 14 37
12 Miami, Fla. 60.78 3 126
13 Honolulu, Hawaii 60.49 18 33
14 Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 60.23 12 79
15 Fort Wayne, Ind. 60.15 8 73
16 Minneapolis, Minn. 60.11 31 6
17 Garland, Texas 59.74 11 93
18 Gilbert, Ariz. 59.59 27 17
19 Overland Park, Kan. 59.58 34 5
20 San Jose, Calif. 59.41 22 38

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