Red State Cities Lead Way in Job Creation

Seven of the top ten metropolitan areas with the most job growth since 2010 are located in Republican-favoring "red" states — with the center of mushrooming employment opportunities being Salt Lake City, Utah, a new survey shows.

"These are metros with a strong concentration of computer systems design, software publishing and data processing and hosting firms," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, an employment resources web site, which spearheaded the survey with Economic Modeling Specialists Intl.

"These are metros benefitting from the resurgence in U.S. manufacturing, and the nation’s need to find new energy sources and expand healthcare services."

Red states are those whose residents predominantly vote for Republicans, while blue states favor Democrats.

Salt Lake City has added over 62,000 jobs since 2010, or 534 new jobs per 10,000 people, the survey found. It beat the area around Grand Rapids, Mich., which added 513 new jobs per 10,000 people, into second place.

Third is San Jose, Calif., which added 498 new jobs per 10,000 people; Austin, Texas, with 488 new jobs per 10,000; and Houston, Texas, which added 451 new jobs per 10,000.
Rounding out the top ten are Nashville, Tenn.; Provo, Utah; Dallas, Texas; Bakersfield, Calif.; and Charlotte, N.C.

According to CareerBuilder, Salt Lake City, originally a farming community, has grown into an industrial center, with electronic shopping services and mail order houses, software publishing, specialized freight trucking, and credit intermediation.

The Grand Rapids area is described as a "manufacturing heavyweight" that has benefitted from the rebound of production jobs after the recession. It saw job increases in manufacturing areas such as plastics, motor vehicle parts, metalworking machinery and office furniture.

CareerBuilder says the poorest-performing labor markets are in Vice President Joe Biden's home-town of Scranton, Pa., and Albuquerque, N.M., both of which have about the same number of workers today as they did in 2010.