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