Springfield ranked in top three among American cities for job growth

Researchers at 24/7 Wall St. recently named the top five American cities for job growth from November 2010 – October 2011 and ranked Springfield third along with Fort Wayne, Ind. (1); Pueblo, Colo. (2); Bakersfield, Calif. (4); Miami, Fla. (5). The researchers used data obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Over the last 12 months Springfield has experienced job growth of nearly 5 percent adding more than 3,610 jobs within the city.  This is the second Top 5 ranking the area has received in a week and continues to point to Springfield and the surrounding area as a leader in the nation for economic recovery.

The Springfield Metro Area (population nearly 450,000) has grown at virtually the same rate, adding 9,459 jobs in the past year.  In 2011, the Springfield region announced 12 expansion projects in a diverse mix of industries including manufacturers, distributors, back office operations and technology development companies.  Expanding companies include global companies such as John Deere Reman and Expedia as well as local successes such as HealthMEDX and Digital Monitoring Products and often cite the quality labor force and low cost of doing business as reasons for their growth leading to new jobs.

Springfield's unemployment has also dropped to 7.4 percent, a full percent below the state rate of 8.5 and the City of Springfield says its sales tax revenue increased more than 10 percent from a year ago.

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