Philadelphia Job Outlook

Traditionally, Philadelphia has been a center for processing and manufacturing.  After World War Two, it reinvented itself as a hub for information services and other computer-based sectors.  Philadelphia is home to quite a few financial giants, including MBNA.  The city also has quite a few biotech firms and business services firms within its borders.  The city has one of the lowest costs of living among major metropolitan areas in the US, and median home prices were quite low, even well into the real estate bubble.  The city’s real estate sector has suffered less than the average US metropolis, and will likely recover by next year to give Philadelphia some real clout as a city that has broken the back of the recession earlier than most others.

The manufacturing sector only accounts for about 5% of the city’s jobs, while the education and health sectors account for nearly 15% each.  This shift is reflective of the overall shift away from manufacturing that has kept Philadelphia efficient and able to maintain consistent growth, even during past recessions.  The federal government has a huge presence in Philadelphia, accounting for around 10% of the jobs in all sectors.  The city is home to myriad historical attractions and tourism and hospitality sectors certainly benefit from this.

The city suffers from an unemployment rate that is about average relative to all other US cities.  The job gains in one sector help to outweigh the losses in others in a constant balancing act that well-diversified economy tends to produce.  Philadelphia’s diverse work force is also a major asset, and the city’s ability to adapt to changing economic patterns and times has helped it remain strong, even through the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

The likelihood that Philadelphia will be able to stay afloat economically is quite good, as we have seen over the past 24 months or so since the start of the recession.  Other northeast cities have been less fortunate and unable to draw any real outside capital investment, thereby eliminating their ability to grow from outside investment.  This is a common denominator in many successful US cities like Austin, Charlotte, and Omaha.  As long as Philadelphia can continue to reinvent itself and change with the times, whether economic or cultural, it will succeed.  I would imagine that the city will likely find it quite easy to attract new business attention from large and small firms alike.  Philadelphia is a great place for medical research and pharmaceutical start-ups to relocate to, given their vast array of government tax incentives and such.

The healthcare industry has already taken a liking to Philadelphia and the sector is one of the city’s strongest.  This will likely only continue into the next decade as more and more research and medical service related firms wake up to the fact that Philadelphia is a great place to operate from.  I expect even high tech firms to see this city as an excellent place to work from, given its history of being able to adapt to the economic climate at hand.  Philadelphia’s unemployment rate is about on par with the national average, but the city itself has much potential and will certainly not be an “average” US city in the post recession era.