State of the economy
29 June 2010
This is the start of a blog that I will update periodically with factual information about what is going on in our city and my take on current topics. I have wanted to start a blog for some time as the outlets for specific information concerning Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County are limited. As a result, I generally believe that we suffer from a lack of good information about what is going on in the community.
That is not to take away from The Kansan or Dotte websites or the Wyandotte Daily News. I believe they do a good job. My goal is to provide an unique perspective and a level of detail that might not be suited for a traditional news gathering source.
With that said, my intent is to update this blog on a regular basis and to personally pen the entries frequently. So here we go…
My first entry is about the state of the economy. Like you, I am often dismayed with the latest news concerning the economy. At times it feels like a roller coaster as you read news stories. One reporting a some good news. Another inferring that a double dip recession is imminent. My report will not attempt to prognosticate about the national economy. Rather, I want to share several factual nuggets of information that I have found encouraging for our community.
Let me share my frame of reference concerning the economy and our community first. I believe that economic recovery will not fully realize itself in Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County until we are adding jobs over time and we see a reduction of unemployment in a sustained way. For our community economic recovery means that our citizens are working. Period. With that in mind, there were three reports that offer some encouragement.
Unemployment Begins to Trend Downward in KCK/WYCO
Wyandotte County’s unemployment rate for May fell to 7.6%. The Kansas City, Kansas rate also dropped to 7.8% in May. These numbers reflect a two month downward trend. In March, the city unemployment stood at 10.5%. I am hopeful that two months turn into a long lasting trend of reduced unemployment.
To give you some context, our unemployment rate has not been below 8% since May of 2008. We averaged unemployment of 10.6% in 2009 in Kansas City, Kansas. Our highest month of unemployment was January of 2009 when the Kansas City, Kansas rate was 13.9%.
It is also interesting to note that historically our unemployment rate has exceeded that of the US. During this recession we have been somewhat closer to the national rate then in the past but have trended at a slightly higher rate that the country as a whole. For the last three months, however, our unemployment rate fell below the national rate. For instance, in May the US unemployment rate was 9.7% compared again to the WYCO rate of 7.6% and the KCK rate of 7.8%.
Note that the metro unemployment data for May has not been released. The April unemployment rate for the KC metro area was 8.3%.
Finally, it is important to note our historical unemployment rate. Over the last 10 years our unemployment rate has averaged about 9.7%.
Again, my hope is that this unemployment data is an encouraging sign of things to come for our community.
Construction Jobs are Growing in Kansas Thanks to KCK and Wyandotte County
The Kansas City Star reported last week that Kansas lead all states in construction job growth from May 2009 to May 2010. Only 4 other states had construction employment growth and Missouri was not one of them. Kansas had a net gain of about 3,600 construction jobs representing a 6.2% gain. Good news for us: much of the growth is being attributed to the construction activity happening in Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County.
As the Star reported:
“…a flurry of commercial construction projects in western Wyandotte County has sparked some regional recovery.”Kansas City Star, June 22, 2010
As is widely known, construction is underway at the KC Wizards stadium and the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. Both of those projects are valued at approximately $500 million dollars.
Not widely reported is ongoing construction of two office buildings at the University of Kansas Hospital and Medical Center campus. One being a 183,000 square foot clinical office building valued at $73 million and the other a 40,000 square foot medical center office building on Rainbow Boulevard valued at $6 million.
Other construction activity includes ongoing work at the new Sara Lee meat processing plant near Kansas Avenue and I-635. This project is valued at approximately $130 million.
Again, our goal must be to continue to build a robust pipeline of new commercial development to sustain not only construction activity but create permanent new jobs. More on that in an upcoming post.
And finally…
Kansas City, Kansas Gains Residents for Third Straight Year in a Row
Despite some popular media reporting, there is good news in the latest census estimates for Kansas City, Kansas. For the third year in a row Kansas City, Kansas has posted a net gain in population. This is a significant reversal of a long standing trend of the city losing population overtime. Over the last three years KCK has gained 1,936 persons or an approximate 1.3% gain. In fact, according to census estimates the city has not seen population growth of this sort in over 20 years.
This news also is an encouraging reminder that our city is on the grow. Not just in commercial activity but in population, too. It again gives us evidence that our community is one that many are finding to be a great place to call home.
