By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
Mesa ranks as one of the fastest growing job markets in the U.S. and ranks ahead of technology and innovation growth areas such as Austin.
Mesa ranks 5th nationally among the fastest growing job markets, according to research by CityLab. The East Valley city ranked 8th nationally for population gains the last five years.
The East Valley city posted employment growth of 20.3 percent between 2012 and 2017. That is behind only Miami, Atlanta, Fort Worth and Denver, according to the digital publication which focuses on innovation and urban areas.
Tucson ranked among the slowest growing job markets posting only 6 percent growth between 2012 and 2017. That ranks 8th slowest. Tulsa was the slowest U.S. job market, according to CityLab.
Mesa saw 9.8 percent population between 2012 and 2017. Seattle (14.7 percent ) and Austin (12.8 percent) had the most population growth while Detroit (-4.1 percent) and Baltimore (-1.6 percent) lost the most population.
Mesa was the only Valley city to make the CityLabs lists. Mesa has seen gains in technology, industrial and other jobs. Google is landing a big data center there and there are development plans for the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport area as well as the Riverview area and the Chicago Cubs Spring Training ballpark.
Mesa has also extended Metro light rail farther down Main Street to Gilbert Road and Arizona State University is bringing a 3-D technology and design focused center to the downtown area.
“During the recession Mesa made a strategic decision to invest and not wait for the economy to get better,” Mayor John Giles said. “We worked through the recession and laid the groundwork for the future, which has paid off.”
