Tri-Cities gains 1,300 jobs in first quarter 2004, manufacturing still declining

The Tri-Cities region gained nearly 1,300 jobs in the first quarter this year as business conditions improved in most industry sectors.

According to the latest labor market report issued Thursday by East Tennessee State University, 1,287 jobs were created in the metropolitan area in the first quarter vs. the same period last year.

ETSU economist Steb Hipple said eight of the region's 14 industry segments posted job gains in the quarter, while three reported employment losses. Job levels remained steady in the remaining three sectors.

Job levels rose in government, leisure and hospitality services, retail trade, education and health services, finance, construction, other services, and transportation and utilities. Job losses were reported in nondurable and durable manufacturing, and professional and business services. Employment levels in mining, wholesale trade and information services were unchanged in the period.

Nationwide, 959,000 jobs were created in the first quarter this year, and the nation's unemployment rate fell 3.34 percent to 6.10 percent. Hipple said the labor market picture is improving, but "serious weaknesses persist...jobless growth" appears to have ended, but the national recovery remains unbalanced...job creation has been limited to construction and a few services sectors, while most industry sectors nationwide continue to post job losses.

"The critical manufacturing industries are shedding between 400,000 and 500,000 jobs per year, which weakens the recovery in manufacturing centers across the country, including the Tri-Cities," Hipple said.

He said declines in manufacturing continued in the Tri-Cities during the winter months, but the services sector created enough new jobs to offset the decline.

"The outlook for the Tri-Cities region remains rooted in the national outlook," Hipple said. "The first quarter performance in the U.S. economy is encouraging, but more is needed. We must have more balanced growth that includes manufacturing and the remaining services sectors. This has not happened yet."

The labor market report is based on the new 2003 Benchmark of the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

The report is available online at http://faculty.etsu.edu/hipples.

Extract Kingsport Times-News May 14, 2004

East Tennessee State University + Third Quarter 2007 + College of Business and Technology, some extracts

To quote, Among the fourteen NAICS industrial sectors, employment levels were higher in eight sectors, while falling in four, and unchanged in two. Job growth was led by construction, followed by government, finance, education & health, leisure & hospitality, retail trade, information services, and transport & utilities. Job losses occurred in professional & business services, durable manufacturing, non durable manufacturing, and other services. Employment levels were stable in the wholesale trade and mining sectors. As usual most of the growth is government or things payed for by government, such as medical. Actual good paying private sector jobs are still falling in 2007. The report on the national scene for January 2008 shows a drop if 18,000 jobs.

To quote, At the local level, the labor market continues to become tighter and tighter. This is not sustainable and creates a set of local problems. We are seeing record setting levels of job creation and reduced unemployment rates. This has created a local labor shortage. Employers are unable to hire the number and quality of workers desired, which puts upward pressure on wages and local prices. In addition, economic developers have difficulty in attracting new businesses to the area because of the labor shortage. In other words, increasing the standard of living of working people is considered bad and they will fight like hell to keep it low.

To quote, One of the key factors in the local employment growth has been a boom in construction employment. This is in dramatic contrast to the decline in construction activity at the national level. As it turns out, the local construction boom is focused in non-residential construction, especially in the Kingsport and Bristol areas. As these projects are completed, we can expect construction related employment to decline. Fortunately, the bulk of local job growth is in the services industries, and these are “permanent” jobs in contrast to the temporary nature of much of construction employment. That doesn't factor in the sub-prime mess. A lot of that construction was government, the "permanent" jobs again are low paying.

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