Study: Miami Amongst 20 Weakest Metro Areas

Here's the bad news: According to a new study of the 100 most populous metro areas in America by the Brookings Institution, the Miami area, including the rest of South Florida, is one of the 20 economically weakest metro areas in the country. Here's the good news: We're only 82,...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

June 18, 2009

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Here's the bad news: According to a new study of the 100 most populous metro areas in America by the Brookings Institution, the Miami area, including the rest of South Florida, is one of the 20 economically weakest metro areas in the country. Here's the good news: We're only 82, and doing better than almost everyone else in Florida.

The Brookings' MetroMoniter report took into account a number of factors including the percent change in employment from a peak in the first quarter of 2009 (that would be -4.5% for us), the change in gross metropolitan product (ours dropped -41%), and change in housing prices.

In most cities, the biggest loss of jobs has occurred in lower-paying industries. However, Miami is one of 14 metro areas where the average wage has actually declined, and Brookings suggests we may be shedding more high-paying jobs than other areas. But the average wage has only declined by 0.2%.

We're also noted for having the 6th greatest fall in the house price index during 2008, with a drop of 23%. And we have the 15th highest incidence of bank owned properties.

Of al the other metro areas in the state, only Orlando fares better, coming in 2 spots higher than us, barely missing the weakest fifth of the list. All the other major areas of Florida find themselves in the bottom ten, including Jacksonville, Lakeland, Palm Bay, Bradenton, Tampa and Cape Coral-Ft. Myers (which comes in second to Detroit's last.)

This all means our path to recovery is going to be a lot longer than other cities, and some in America are already showing signs of recovery. One problem though:if you want to move to a recession resistant city that may mean moving to Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas.

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