How Well Has DC Recovered Since the Crash?

• March 29, 2012
• 1 Comment

by Shilpi Paul

While the country seems to be in tentative recovery mode, with positive news about jobs and unemployment and encouraging housing indicators, a number of obvious questions remain. Which cities are recovering the fastest? How do current numbers compare to those before the crash? How does DC stack up against other major cities? A new report from The Brookings Institution provides some answers.

Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program just released an analysis of their MetroMonitor, a ranking that tracks the performance of economic indicators (employment rates, gross metropolitan product, housing prices, and the pace of recovery) in 100 U.S. cities.

Courtesy of The Brookings Institution

In terms of overall recovery, DC was squarely in the middle of the pack, but the city had a few highlights. Our regional unemployment level ranks 7th out of the 100 cities analyzed, at 5.5 percent, with a relatively low change in employment rate since before the crash. Housing is another strong point: we rank 15th in regards to home price increases, exhibiting a relatively high rate of change from when prices were at their lowest point.

While the numbers aren’t too dramatic, they seem to be headed in the right direction. From the report:

National economic indicators suggest that the economic recovery, though still very slow, may be picking up speed.

Along with the report, there are a few cool interactive maps comparing cities. Check them out here.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/how_well_has_dc_recovered_since_the_crash/5348

1 Comment

1. xmal said at 6:15 pm on Thursday March 29, 2012:
   Anyone have a handle on what this map means? Why are a bunch of boomburgs (Fort Myers, Phoenix, Vegas, Jacksonville) both in the top and bottom of the list? Why are the boomburgs in the top of the list at all---is it that housing prices fell so far that there is nowhere else to go but up? Why is Chicago and Wisconsin red and the rest of the Midwest blue? I'm having trouble coming up with a model that fits these data.