New York and LA to lead US Cities in Job Losses

Only 5 metropolitan areas in the U.S. will escape job losses this year, according to a forecast released Saturday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.  Many analysts anticipate that New York will be hit hardest as thousands of jobs will be cut as Wall Street firms clean house. Large financial firms are cutting work force as they adjust to loss of cash flow and bad debt. Some banking institutions have gone under, like Lehman Brothers which filed for bankruptcy in September.  While other struggling banks like Indy Mac, WAMU and Wachovia are taken over with buy-outs.

The New York marketplace is expected to lose 181,000 jobs in 2009, the report said. Consulting company IHS Global Insight produced the report for the group.  While the greater Los Angeles area is expected to see 164,000 lost jobs, mostly because of the sour housing market that has seen a significant decline in home prices that has tore through the Southern California economy.  After New York and Los Angeles, the Miami area is expected to see the greatest loss, with a decline of 85,000 jobs. Chicago and the surrounding area are next, with losses projected at 80,000.

Unemployment is expected to top 10%  in 70 areas, from already hard-hit cities like Detroit and Cleveland to places that had until recently been prosperous like the Riverside-San Bernardino area in California. Other big cities like Denver and St. Louis are expected to see unemployment rise above 9%.  Ithaca, N.Y.; Fairbanks, Alaska; and St. George, Utah, are among the handful of the nation’s 363 metropolitan areas expected to see employment remain flat or increase slightly.  Get the latest news and insight at Jason Cardiff Tips online. 

Read more articles:  Fed Chief Says Obama Stimulus Could Revive Economy and Housing Markets |  California Home Prices Forecasted to Decline Further in 2009