Grand Rapids is #1 in U.S. for Job Growth
The economy of Grand Rapids, and its metro areas, keeps getting better!
A study done by Headlight Data, a website that collects data on economics and the workforce, found that Grand Rapids had the highest rate of job growth in 2016 compared to any other state in the country. According to Headlight,
Growth is measured by the percentage change in employment between the annual average of 2015 and 2016."
53 of the major metro areas were analyzed; and between 2015 and 2016, with just over 539K people employed, Grand Rapids had a 4.4% increase in jobs. Orlando (4.2%) and Nashville (4%) round off the top 3. On the opposite end of things, Oklahoma City had the worst job rate with a loss of .8%.
Detroit, was the other city in Michigan that was analyzed and had a growth rate of almost 2%. Employment in the United States, as a whole, saw an uptick by 1.7%. Grand Rapids also ranked #2 for most improvement in an economy, right behind Nashville.
These data results are no surprise, a recent survey found that Grand Rapids has the strongest job prospects in the country for July, August and September of 2017.