by Jay Goldstein

As always you have to take the good with the challenging. On the positive side:

  • For the second year in a row, Philadelphia added jobs at a faster rate than the nation as a whole…a monthly average of 715,900 jobs in 2017, an increase of 16,000 jobs from the year before
  • The local unemployment rate fell to 6.2%
  • Home sales increased for the 6th consecutive year
  • Construction continued to boom – for the fourth consecutive year, the city issued more permits for residential housing units
  • The City’s population continued to grow for the 11th straight year

On the more challenging side:

  • The opioid crisis plagued the city with one of the highest death rates in the country
  • The homicide rate increased to the highest level since 2012
  • Despite more jobs and lower unemployment, the poverty rate still makes Philadelphia the poorest of America’s 10 most populous cities