California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

The website New Geography has released its annual ranking of the”Best Cities for Jobs.”

The methodology for the 2011 rankings reviews all 398 Metropolitan Statistical Areas,
(MSA’s).  The ranking segments the rankings by small, medium and large cities.  The
ranking is able to provide fair and equitable treatment because it includes all of the
(MSAs) for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports monthly employment data. Of
interest this year, there are 8 MSA’s that are reported in the small category this year
that were medium last year and one – Honolulu that was large but is now reported as
medium size.

The index is calculated from a normalized, weighted summary of: 1) recent growth trend:
the current and prior year's employment growth rates, with the current year emphasized
(two points); 2) mid-term growth: the average annual 2005-2010 growth rate (two points);
3) long-term trend and momentum: the sum of the 2005-2010 and 1999-2004 employment
growth rates multiplied by the ratio of the 1999-2004 growth rate over the 2005-2010 growth
rate (two points); and 4) current year growth (one point).

There are 65 large cities that are ranked. The following illustrates the Top Ten Best
Large Cities for Jobs.  It is followed by the rankings of the California cities.

TOP TEN BEST LARGE CITIES FOR JOBS 2011
1. Austin, TX
2. New Orleans, LA
3. Houston, TX
4. San Antonio, TX
5. Dallas, TX
6. Washington DC
7. Northern Virginia
8. Nashville, TN
9. New York City, NY
10. Philadelphia, PA

As it pertains to California cities, San Jose is ranked the highest at 27.  It is
followed by San Francisco at 33, San Diego at 37, Riverside-San Bernardino at 57,
Sacramento 58,Los Angeles at 60 and Oakland at 65

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.