No surprises here in The Wall Street Journal, as Angel Au-Yeung and Tom Corrigan explain that Salt Lake City was the top job market in 2023, with cities in Your Survival Guy Super States dominating the Top 10. Look for Seattle to drop as it continues to become more progressive. Just follow the money or Jeff Bezos (Miami, anyone?). They write:
Follow the mountains and sunshine for the best job markets in America.
Salt Lake City was the country’s hottest job market in 2023, followed by three cities in Florida: Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa. Miami also made the top 10, making Florida the top state last year.
The Mountain West and Sunbelt cities bucked the trend in a year marked by layoffs in the technology, manufacturing and financial sectors. Workers flocked to these areas for their plentiful job opportunities, wage growth, affordability and recreational offerings.
The Wall Street Journal, working with Moody’s Analytics, assessed about 380 metro areas. The rankings determined the strongest labor markets based on five factors: the unemployment rate, the labor-force participation rate, changes to employment levels, the size of the labor force and wages. Larger areas, with more than one million residents, were ranked separately from smaller ones.
| Metropolitan Area | Rank | Unemployment Rate Rank | Labor Force Participation Rank | Payroll Change Rank | Change In Labor Force Size Rank |
Change In Avg Weekly Wages Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City | 1 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 5 |
| Jacksonville, Fla. | 2 | 6 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| Orlando, Fla. | 3 | 6 | 29 | 9 | 7 | 5 |
| Tampa, Fla. | 4 | 10 | 41 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Oklahoma City | 5 | 10 | 30 | 24 | 9 | 3 |
| Miami | 6 | 3 | 40 | 13 | 22 | 2 |
| Austin, Texas | 7 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 42 |
| Nashville, Tenn. | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 31 |
| Seattle | 9 | 33 | 7 | 13 | 17 | 13 |
| Dallas | 10 | 42 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 32 |
Data continue to show a strong U.S. economy, tempering expectations for interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Employment in March rose by 303,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department, which was much higher than economists’ expectations, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8%.
Cities with strong job markets were those well-positioned as affordable alternatives to the traditional tech and financial hubs.
Action Line: Your Survival Guy’s 2024 Super States highlight the places in America where politicians are putting the success of constituents ahead of their own political goals. When you want to live free in America, find a home in one of Your Survival Guy’s Super States. In the meantime, click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
