There does seem to be an uptick in economic activity in the St. Louis area. Let's hope we can keep the momentum going. A decade of that kind of growth would do amazing things for the area. I've always felt that St. Louis would have at least average job growth when it got done shedding it's post industrial economy. Maybe we are finally hitting that inflection point. Despite the doom and gloom, I really do not think that St. Louis will be a stagnant slow growth region into perpetuity. The is no reason that St. Louis shouldn't be growing at least as fast as Indianapolis, Columbus, Kansas City, and Nashville. The region just has too many assets and natural advantages. With Cortex growing and the Medical Center humping along I think we are doing what Boston did, just a few decades later.
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Glad our Medical Center districts keep grinding.goat314 wrote:With Cortex growing and the Medical Center humping along I think we are doing what Boston did, just a few decades later.
Haven't seen any jobs numbers out for September yet, but metro area unemployment was updated and fell to 3.3%, the lowest number in 30 years.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... 6b468.htmlThe Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported Wednesday that the metro St. Louis labor force grew nearly 3 percent between August 2018 and August 2019. The labor force is the total number of people working or actively seeking a job, and it's a key measure for companies that are looking to expand. The number of metro area residents counted as unemployed fell by 2,600, or nearly 5 percent, in the latest 12 months
St. Louis loses jobs in September, but remains on strong annual growth pace
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... e76e5.html
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... e76e5.html
Few other tidbits:Metro St. Louis lost 1,000 jobs in September but remains on pace for one of its strongest job-growth years in recent history. The September slump ended a summer winning streak for the region's economy. Seasonally adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show metro St. Louis gaining 11,000 jobs between May and August. The metro area gained 26,800 jobs between September 2018 and September 2019, a growth rate of 1.9 percent. Nationwide employment grew 1.4 percent in the same period. The St. Louis area has outpaced the nation in job growth since June after trailing, sometimes by a lot, for the previous three years.
St. Louis area leisure and hospitality employers, including restaurants and hotels, added 7,100 jobs in the latest 12 months. Construction and mining firms added 5,800 jobs and manufacturers added 4,200. The health-care sector, which often leads the region in job growth, showed a decline of 900 jobs between September 2018 and September 2019. Figures for specific industries are not seasonally adjusted. The BLS also reported Friday that Missouri's unemployment rate fell to 3.1 percent in September from 3.2 percent in August. Illinois' jobless rate dipped from 4.0 percent to 3.9 percent, which is a record low for the state.
From the Post-Dispatch:
The unemployment rate in the St. Louis region is down to 3.1%, what the paper estimates as a 50 year low. Some other tidbits:
The unemployment rate in the St. Louis region is down to 3.1%, what the paper estimates as a 50 year low. Some other tidbits:
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... 7d524.htmlThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the metro area's labor force — the number of people working or looking for a job — rose by 46,385 people or 3.2% between September 2018 and last month. The number of area residents counted as unemployed fell by 4,233, or nearly 10%, over the latest 12 months.The unemployment and workforce numbers are based on a survey of households. Based on a separate employer survey, the BLS said metro St. Louis lost 1,000 jobs in September but has gained 26,800 jobs in the past year.
I wish one of the business sections would cover the city’s growth in service and tourism.
Union Station, Foundry, MLS, TopGolf, etc. equal thousands of new service jobs in a region with slow labor force growth.
Given that the city is a huge source of service labor, you can imagine a decent % of Brentwood/Richmond Heights area workers might be enticed to take a job closer to home. A single bus ride vs. a single bus ride, transfer, and walk.
Union Station, Foundry, MLS, TopGolf, etc. equal thousands of new service jobs in a region with slow labor force growth.
Given that the city is a huge source of service labor, you can imagine a decent % of Brentwood/Richmond Heights area workers might be enticed to take a job closer to home. A single bus ride vs. a single bus ride, transfer, and walk.
^ I honestly think it makes more sense to look at it from a regional perspective (it is odd that the BJ never reports on the region's job growth, however). If NextSTL (RIP) or another blog wanted to dig up the city specific numbers that would be fine, but I think David Nicklaus does a good job on the run down he currently provides.
Besides, as of or right now, none of those projects you mentioned are going to show up in those statistics till at least next year. MLS not until 2022, Topgolf hasn't even been formally announced yet, Foundry isn't open and the largest chunk of the renovated Union Station won't open until this month or later. You're not going to see those start significantly affecting those statistics for a while.
Going back to September the labor force was up 3.2% or 46,385 people. That's pretty robust for St. Louis.
EDIT: I never did see the October numbers, so I went back and looked. The region lost about 1,900 jobs in October almost entirely due to the General Motors strike which saw their 4,300 workers idled during that time.
St. Louis loses 1,900 jobs in October, but number is skewed by GM strike
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... c7a16.html
Besides, as of or right now, none of those projects you mentioned are going to show up in those statistics till at least next year. MLS not until 2022, Topgolf hasn't even been formally announced yet, Foundry isn't open and the largest chunk of the renovated Union Station won't open until this month or later. You're not going to see those start significantly affecting those statistics for a while.
Going back to September the labor force was up 3.2% or 46,385 people. That's pretty robust for St. Louis.
EDIT: I never did see the October numbers, so I went back and looked. The region lost about 1,900 jobs in October almost entirely due to the General Motors strike which saw their 4,300 workers idled during that time.
St. Louis loses 1,900 jobs in October, but number is skewed by GM strike
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... c7a16.html
Other sectors continue to do quite well, however.The October downturn and the slippage in manufacturing, though, can be explained by the General Motors strike. The strike, which ended Oct. 25, idled GM's plant in Wentzville for 40 days, which meant that most of the plant's 4,300 workers were not counted as employed during October.
The construction industry continues to lead St. Louis' job growth, with 5,800 jobs added in the latest 12 months. (That is for a sector that includes mining and forestry, but is dominated by construction.) Professional and business services firms added 4,200 jobs while leisure and hospitality employers added 3,800.
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Is there some type of database or running list of business expansions with employment gains anywhere for the metro?
There's 9 databases. You have to aggregate them yourself into one list. Make sure you delete the figures that overlap.dbehrens011 wrote: ↑Dec 04, 2019Is there some type of database or running list of business expansions with employment gains anywhere for the metro?
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That is what I am running into - thanks for confirming. I am currently working on a major economic Multifamily Supply and Economic Analysis for a developer interested in entering the STL market. Wish these things were easier, but doesn't surprise me.
I was joking, referencing Gone Corporate's response in the 'St. Louis in the National News' thread.dbehrens011 wrote: ↑Dec 04, 2019That is what I am running into - thanks for confirming. I am currently working on a major economic Multifamily Supply and Economic Analysis for a developer interested in entering the STL market. Wish these things were easier, but doesn't surprise me.
But then again, maybe my joke is more true than I dare to imagine.
Or maybe STL's whole economic development effort is more of a joke than I care to imagine...
^ I'd say there is a little truth to all of that 
I do have a spreadsheet that lists every employer in St. Louis with their head counts. Though that doesn't cover expansions, just total employment numbers.
I do have a spreadsheet that lists every employer in St. Louis with their head counts. Though that doesn't cover expansions, just total employment numbers.
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Check out the St. Louis Federal Reserve. They have plenty of data on their website and I'm sure would be receptive to any inquiries you may have.dbehrens011 wrote: ↑Dec 04, 2019Is there some type of database or running list of business expansions with employment gains anywhere for the metro?
https://www.stlouisfed.org/
Considering 4300 GM workers returned to work in this period... +100 is a really meh month. A good year is becoming less-good.
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I haven't seen the usual PD write up yet, but the Business Journal had this little blurb today:
St. Louis area adds majority of state's new jobs
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... s_headline
St. Louis area adds majority of state's new jobs
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... s_headline
Missouri employment grew by 37,100 jobs from November 2018 to November 2019, the state's Department of Economic Development said. Unemployment last month was unchanged from October 2019, at 3.1%.
The St. Louis metropolitan area added 21,700 jobs, followed by Kansas City (14,900), Jefferson City (1,000), Springfield (900), Joplin (500) and St. Joseph (minus 200). For St. Louis, total non-farm positions rose 1.6% during the 12-month period. Growth areas included mining, logging and construction (up 7.9%); trade, transportation and utilities (up 2.1%); and leisure and hospitality (up 2.3%).
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sc4mayor wrote: ↑Dec 23, 2019I haven't seen the usual PD write up yet, but the Business Journal had this little blurb today:
St. Louis area adds majority of state's new jobs
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... s_headline
Missouri employment grew by 37,100 jobs from November 2018 to November 2019, the state's Department of Economic Development said. Unemployment last month was unchanged from October 2019, at 3.1%.
The St. Louis metropolitan area added 21,700 jobs, followed by Kansas City (14,900), Jefferson City (1,000), Springfield (900), Joplin (500) and St. Joseph (minus 200). For St. Louis, total non-farm positions rose 1.6% during the 12-month period. Growth areas included mining, logging and construction (up 7.9%); trade, transportation and utilities (up 2.1%); and leisure and hospitality (up 2.3%).
Someone tell the last person in rural MO to turn the lights off
Surprising to not see Columbia, MO on that list of gainers It's been a boomtown for so long.
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^But so much of that boom was driven by the growth of the university. Increasing tuition and shrinking state and federal aid finally put the brakes on enrollment gains a few years back now, so I would guess it was inevitable that job growth too would slow and eventually stall out. If the state would increase education funding I expect you'd quickly see that turn back around to the positive. I'm honestly shocked the powers that be were able to keep things growing as long as they did. (Though there has long been grumbling about faculty and staff salaries and I think perhaps also anemic retention rates. That might have been a good leading indicator.)
^also lower demand by foreign students. Many public universities saw their state funding cut in the last few decades, but managed to more than make up for this with growing international student enrollment. That is (quickly) drying up now, and the most affected schools tend to be large state ones.
See for example https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news ... 38b94.html
Many of these undergraduate students are wealthy East Asians who are pretty much willing to pay whatever to attend US schools. Therefore, they are an important (and very inelastic) source of funding for universities. Graduate students is obviously a different story.
See for example https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news ... 38b94.html
Many of these undergraduate students are wealthy East Asians who are pretty much willing to pay whatever to attend US schools. Therefore, they are an important (and very inelastic) source of funding for universities. Graduate students is obviously a different story.
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^ I think they really missed the mark on that one. Most likely someone fell for the University's own spin. If you read the fine print that's a decline of nine hundred students, and it's mostly in the past couple of years. Total enrollment is down more than five thousand from its peak, and the decline was mostly between 2015 and 2017, so . . . no. The foreign student thing is a smoke screen. Foreign students were never a terribly large part of enrollment at UMC anyway. They've maybe tried to recruit more abroad in the last few years to make up for rising tuition and declining local enrollment, much as they've tried to build an endowment quickly to make up for declines in state funding. Honestly they've had to dramatically, if quietly, shift their mission over the past twenty years. In the 90s they were an economical school aimed primarily at educating Missourians. It wasn't fancy, but it was decent. As Hancock and his ilk took larger and larger swipes at educational finances statewide the school looked more to outstate recruiting and trying to become competitive nationally. They built newer and fancier dorms. (In 1990 only three had air conditioning for instance. Now most do.) They tried to expand into trendier and more lucrative fields, like biosciences. They remodeled and replaced the bulk of the high-profile athletic facilities and . . . changed conferences entirely to get more national attention. (That was nothing but a recruiting move.) I can absolutely believe they've tried to recruit more internationally of late, much the same as every US school, but there's a lot of better funded competition trying to snap up foreign students. And they make up about five percent of the student body, and never really were any more than that. They really can't pass this off on the federal government. The blame lies much much closer to home.
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More fun with jobs numbers - since Parson took control in June 2018, STL/KC have seen job growth of 47.3k, but the state only has total job growth of 41k.
Areas outside of dem controlled STL/KC have lost more than 6,000 jobs under Parson.
Those numbers explode when you go back to January 2017 when republicans took control of statewide offices except auditor. STL/KC have job growth of 139.7k, but state as a whole only sees growth of 61.1k. Thats loss of 78.6k outside of our two biggest cities.
Areas outside of dem controlled STL/KC have lost more than 6,000 jobs under Parson.
Those numbers explode when you go back to January 2017 when republicans took control of statewide offices except auditor. STL/KC have job growth of 139.7k, but state as a whole only sees growth of 61.1k. Thats loss of 78.6k outside of our two biggest cities.
Not sure where to put this article but thought this thread as good any
I think David Nicklaus @ PD does a pretty good job of how the region moves forward the next decade. The region might not have the political will to eliminate fiefdoms but one area that helps the region as a whole and a lot of marginalized residents is by growing its workforce locally, organically and retaining graduates.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... -top-story
I think David Nicklaus @ PD does a pretty good job of how the region moves forward the next decade. The region might not have the political will to eliminate fiefdoms but one area that helps the region as a whole and a lot of marginalized residents is by growing its workforce locally, organically and retaining graduates.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... -top-story
David Nicklaus has the rundown:
St. Louis area is on pace for biggest job gain since 2015
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... 38f9e.html
St. Louis area is on pace for biggest job gain since 2015
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... 38f9e.html
Metro St. Louis gained just 200 jobs in November, but appears on pace for its best job-creation year since 2015. The latest seasonally adjusted numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the metro area with a gain of 21,700 jobs, or 1.6%, between November 2018 and last month.
If that holds for December, it will be better than 2018's gain of 12,600 jobs. It also may mean a rare year in which St. Louis grows faster than the nation, which had a 1.5% job gain for the 12 months ending in November. The construction industry, which is combined with mining and logging in the statistics, added 5,300 jobs in the latest 12 months. That amounts to 7.9% growth, well above the national average. Leisure and hospitality firms, such as hotels and restaurants, added 3,400 jobs and retailers added 2,900. Figures for specific industries are not seasonally adjusted.
The BLS figures also show that average hourly earnings in metro St. Louis grew 5.9% in the past 12 months, and weekly wages grew 6.2%. Those estimates are not adjusted for inflation.
Nicklaus and Gallagher are optimistic about the coming year - These are guys that I have found to have a realistic view of St. Louis and they are not optimistic all that often. We just finished one of the best years in long while and could have another great one ahead. Of course I will temper my enthusiasm with my built-in St. Louis impending doom mindset - Side note - This was filmed at a new brewery over in Millstadt call Mill Pond - I had no idea that it existed, looks like a nice rehab.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... b44ec.html
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... b44ec.html
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^I don't want to stray off topic but Mill Pond is definitely worth the visit but it will be even better when the weather is nicer and they can roll up the big doors and make it more open to the outside. Really looking forward to going back there on a warm spring day.