No More 10 Minute Breaks: How Labor Markets in Amazon’s ‘HQ2’ Finalist Cities Stack Up

Amazon recently narrowed its list of metro areas the company is considering for its new location, known as ‘HQ2,’ to 20, and the company is now in the selection process, considering cities’ attributes, including fiscal health and culture fit.

But the labor-market conditions in the cities under consideration point to not only an area’s historical economic health, but the number of people available to take the new jobs Amazon will offer.

“If you have a labor market that’s growing, the underlying industry base is healthy and confident, and they are adding jobs,” said Matthew Mowell, senior economist at Oxford Economics.

Sunbelt cities Austin, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn. and Dallas appear to be ahead of the pack when it comes to labor-force and employment growth.

Ultralow unemployment rates, which Nashville and Boston have, also signal a healthy local economy, but in Amazon’s case, a tight labor market could make it tough to hire talent.

“There are some places like Boston that have a lot of well educated workers, but if you look at the unemployment rate…it would have a difficult time accommodating 50,000 new workers,” Mr. Mowell said.

The Washington, D.C., area, which has three bids in the running, falls in the middle of the pack on the job-market measures. Also of note: This data doesn’t include Toronto, the one non-U.S. city on Amazon’s list.

Here’s a look at how labor markets in HQ2 finalist cities stack up in the Labor Department’s latest metro employment data:

Amazon Narrows Choices for ‘HQ2’ to 20 (Jan. 19)

U.S. Gained 200,000 Jobs in January as Wages Picked Up (Feb. 2)

A Tight Labor Market Should Prompt Job-Hopping. It’s Not (Jan. 9)

from Real Time Economics http://ift.tt/2BgAdxY