bizjournals: More markets see job gains, but others still suffer

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U.S. employment totaled 131.9 million jobs as 2004'zs third quarter drew to a close. The increase was 1.4 percenr above the same periodin 2003. That growthu rate was an improvement over the previoux twoquarterly checkpoints. Employment had been up 1.1 percent at end of the second quarterand 0.5 percent at the end of the The pace was substantially faster in Las Vegas, whichb topped the nation by expanding its job base 5.1 percentg between September 2003 and Septembetr 2004, according to an American City Businesws Journals analysis of employment data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labort Statistics. Fifteen other marketas enjoyed growth rates of 3 percentor better.
More than 70 percen t of America's 226 labor markets -- 161, to be exactr -- added jobs during the past But there also isa downside, as reflectede by the federal government's latest employmenr report on Dec. 3. It showed the U.S. economu adding 112,000 jobs in roughly half the expected increaseeof 200,000. Analysts say that highe r costs for oil and raw materialsa have forced many employers to think twicew about expanding their work The negative impact has been strongesf in 61 markets that suffered employment losses during thepast year, according to the ACBJ study.
Two Michigan metros -- Lansing and Saginaaw -- suffered the worst declines inpercentags terms, losing more than 4 percent of their jobs since late 2003. The followinyg is a look at who's hot and who'sx not, breaking the nation into 13 sections, includingb four states that are big enougjh to be sectionsby We'll start in the northeast. New England The economic recover y has been spotty acrosszthis six-state section. Burlington, Vt., is rebounding with employmentup 2.5 percent during the past 12 months. That makese Burlington the fastest-growing market in New England and one of the top 25 in the But there are somegloomy stories, too.
Hartfor d has lost 8,400 jobs in the past the worst raw declinwe anywhere outsideof Michigan. And Bostonm is down 1,700 over the same New York New York is reallytwo states. The New York City markef -- also known as downstate -- has addedc 101,100 jobs since the third quarterof 2003. That's the largesty gain in raw numbersacross America. But upstate is a differeng story. Its eight markets have collectivelyu addedjust 5,300 jobs. Three of in fact, have lower employment than they did a yearago -- Elmira and Rochester. Middle Atlantic The overall numbersd in the Middle Atlanticlook strong.
Its 21 markets have picked up 118,40o jobs since September 2003, the largest gain by any of the nation's 13 sections. But that total is heavilyu weighted by the economic boom intwo Washington-Baltimore has tacked on 85,700 jobs, and the Philadelphiaa area has added 16,200. The biggest drag on the sectionap economyis Scranton, Pa., which has lost 2,600 Southeast