City Leaders’ Survey Finds Local Economic Conditions Improving Nationwide

Conducted by the National League of Cities (NLC), the Local Economic Conditions Survey 2015 asks government officials in more than 250 cities across the nation to assess their local economic conditions. Painting a broad picture of the economic health of cities, Cities and Unequal Recovery highlights key points from the most recent survey. The report finds that economic conditions over the past year have improved in nearly all cities, with 28 percent of city leaders indicating that conditions have improved greatly and 64 percent reporting slight improvements. In the 2013 Local Economic Conditions Survey, just 8 percent of cities reported greatly improved local economic conditions from the year before.

Mid-sized cities – those with populations between 100,000 and 299,000 – were the most likely to report that conditions improved greatly (40 percent), while smaller cities – those with fewer than 50,000 residents – were the least likely (20 percent). No city with a population greater than 300,000 reported that conditions had become worse over the course of the last year, while smaller cities were the only cities to report worsened economic conditions. According to a Moody’s Analytics economic briefing cited in the study, an economic recovery driven by faster growth in larger metro areas compared to smaller communities is unique compared to previous recoveries, and largely driven by those larger regions’ faster housing rebound.

City leaders surveyed in the report cited new business startups (47 percent) and number of business expansions (43 percent) in particular as the most positive drivers of local economic conditions. Cities surveyed noted that negative drivers of local economic conditions include the skills alignment with employer needs (40 percent) and the availability of affordable housing (33 percent).

Given the importance of the skills gap as a negative driver of local economic conditions, the report details the extent to which cities are involved in workforce development, finding that more cities are actively engaging in workforce development activities than previously before. Traditionally, save for their participation on local workforce investment boards, workforce development has not been an area of leadership for city governments. Now, however, more than one in four (28 percent) city leaders surveyed report that their city is very involved in workforce development activities, with 42 percent saying they are somewhat involved. Of city leaders surveyed, 27 percent of local governments reported very little or no involvement in workforce development activities.

City participation in workforce development strategies typically comes in the form of communicating with the local business community about their workforce needs (63 percent of cities participating), connecting workforce development efforts to the city’s economic development efforts (63 percent), and attending and participation in meetings of the local workforce investment board (57 percent). The most common workforce development partners identified by the report are chambers of commerce (89 percent of cities reporting engagement), community colleges (79 percent), local businesses (64 percent), and four-year universities (60 percent).

To read more about Cities and Unequal Recovery, visit the National League of Cities: http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/city-solutions-and-applied-research/economic-development/local-economic-conditions-2015