Tulsa No. 35 among nation's metro areas for economic recovery in 2nd quarter
BY LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
9/19/12 at 2:53 AM
Both the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metros ranked in the top half of the nation's largest 100 metros for their overall economic recovery in the second quarter, according to the latest edition of the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program's MetroMonitor index.
Tulsa's overall ranking dropped a notch to No. 35 in the second quarter, and Oklahoma City ranked No. 22 overall.
The September 2012 MetroMonitor tracks the economic recovery in the nation's 100 largest metro areas. The reports look at economic performance using several key indicators, including percentage changes in employment, unemployment, output and the housing price index.
Overall, the report found that the nation's largest metros mostly slowed their rates of recovery in the second quarter 2012, after relatively fast growth during the first quarter, according to the report.
"In the race to recovery, metro areas are running at slow speeds with some tripping along the way," Alec Friedhoff, a research analyst with the Metropolitan Policy Program and lead developer of the MetroMonitor, said in a written statement. "Texas and Oklahoma metros weren't hit as hard in the recession, and their recovery remains stronger as natural gas has boomed."
He added: "Certain high-tech regions, places in the Mountain West, and manufacturing centers have continued to have healthy recoveries. But parts of the Northeast and metro areas with significant public-sector employment are still struggling."
Across the 100 largest metro areas, employment growth softened in the second quarter and the rate of output growth slowed.
Unemployment rates dropped in about half of the metro areas but still remained above 6 percent in all but 12 metropolitan areas. Also, 87 metro housing markets reached new lows, reflecting a housing market yet to recover, according to the report.
For the second quarter, Tulsa's metro ranked No. 21 for its unemployment rate, which dropped to 5.2 percent from 6.0 percent in the first quarter.
Tulsa-area manufacturing employment grew by 2.6 percent for the quarter and 11.6 percent over the last four quarters, according to the report.
The area's mining employment grew by 1.4 percent over the quarter and 6.6 percent over the last four quarters.
Metro Tulsa's second-quarter gross metropolitan product rose 0.4 percent in the current quarter, down from 0.9 percent growth in the first quarter, ranking it 51st among the nation's 100 largest metros.
Top metros in second-quarter economic recovery
1. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La.
2. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
3. Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.
4. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
5. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.
22. Oklahoma City
35. Tulsa
Original Print Headline: Tulsa 2Q rank strong for recovery
Laurie Winslow 918-581-8466
laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com
