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Business and Job Losses in the Final Quarter of 2021 Reversed Gains from Earlier in the Year
Business and Job Losses in the Final Quarter of 2021 Reversed Gains from Earlier in the Year
Published 03-16-22
Submitted by The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)
March 16, 2022 /CSRwire/ - Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) today published the third report in its series analyzing How the Coronavirus Recession and Recovery Have Affected Businesses and Jobs in the 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas.
The report summarizes the key findings of ICIC’s analysis of the most detailed and comprehensive information about what has happened to businesses and jobs in these metros from the onset of the pandemic in the second quarter of 2020 through the fourth quarter of 2021.
ICIC’s research tracks changes in the numbers of businesses and jobs for each of the 100 metropolitan areas and provides more specific detail on small, medium-sized, and large businesses; Black- and Hispanic- or Latino-owned businesses; under-resourced communities (heavily populated urban and suburban areas of concentrated poverty and low income) and non-under-resourced communities, and major industries.
“Severe supply chain constraints combined with the onset of the COVID-19 Omicron variant and associated policy efforts likely stalled recovery for both businesses and jobs during the final quarter of 2021,” said ICIC CEO Steve Grossman. “While businesses of all sizes and ownership across all racial and ethnic groups were impacted, smaller businesses and Asian- and Pacific Islander- and Hispanic-/Latino-owned businesses bore the brunt of the losses. We must ensure that resources are directed to these small business owners and entrepreneurs across the country so they are able to survive the pandemic’s continued economic impact.”
The report is accompanied by an online data dashboard that can be used to search for customized information on what has happened to jobs or businesses in a specific business category or demographic group for each of the top 100 metros. For each quarter in this four-report series, one of the top 100 metros will be selected for a deeper evaluation using data available from the data dashboard.
The third report in this series focuses on the Los Angeles metro area which, with a job loss of 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2021, had the second lowest job growth rate among the 100 largest metro areas in that quarter. Los Angeles also had some of the greatest percentage job losses of all top 100 metro areas its under-resourced communities, among its smallest businesses, and among its Black-owned businesses.
Los Angeles’ job losses in the fourth quarter were most severe in the entertainment industry, a key driver of the region’s economy, and in the region’s smallest businesses. From the start of the pandemic through the third quarter of 2020, the entertainment industry enjoyed the strongest recovery of all key industries in Los Angeles, but the industry’s employment fell from 96% of its pre-crisis level in the third quarter of 2021 to 92% in the fourth quarter. Employment in businesses with one to four employees fell from 80% of its pre-crisis employment level in the third quarter to 75% in the fourth quarter.
Among the report’s key findings:
“The reports and dashboard are useful tools for policymakers, elected officials, small business assistance providers, community and economic development professionals, community foundations, researchers, and others who want to know how the recession and recovery have affected businesses and jobs in their metropolitan areas and how they can best target assistance to the businesses and locations that need it most,” said Howard Wial, Senior Vice President and Director of Research for ICIC and co-author of the report.
To download the full report, How the Coronavirus Recession and Recovery Have Affected Businesses and Jobs in the 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas, and access the accompanying data dashboard visit: https://icic.org/latest-research/.
This work was funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The contents of the report are solely the responsibility of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
The Business Dynamics Research Consortium: a project of the University of Wisconsin System, Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship, provided the Your-economy Time Series (YTS) data used for this report.
About Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) was founded by renowned Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter in 1994 as a research and strategy organization that today is widely recognized as the preeminent authority on urban economic growth. ICIC drives inclusive economic prosperity in under-resourced communities through innovative research and programs to create jobs, income, and wealth for local residents. Learn more at www.icic.org or @icicorg.
The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) was founded by reknown Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter in 1994 as a research and strategy organization that today is widely recognized as the preeminent authority on urban economic growth. ICIC drives inclusive economic prosperity in under-resourced communities through innovative research and programs to create jobs, income, and wealth for local residents. To learn more about ICIC, visit icic.org.
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