Cleveland is doing pretty well job-wise compared to its Ohio peers, according to a recent report from the Greater Cleveland Partnership.
That’s according to the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the region’s chamber of commerce that’s somewhat severed its relationship with Cleveland and Cuyahoga County after publicly backing the Browns move to Brook Park.
The region’s chamber of commerce, despite the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County severing ties with the group following its endorsement of the Browns’ move to Brook Park, is still optimistic about the city center, touting the latest stats in its Growth Rankings report. Not only is the city’s 3.4 percent unemployment rate one of the lowest in the Midwest, but Cleveland is blossoming in top-tier manner.
We are third for income growth (2%) , the report says, and fourth in business growth (5%). And jobs? Cleveland ranks sixth in the Midwest.
“Businesses are growing faster here than other geographies. Income is growing faster,” GCP President Baiju Shah said in a press release Monday.
“Jobs is the one area where we have the challenge,” he said. “It’s not because of the lack of jobs. We need more people to support the jobs we have.”
Cleveland has roughly 123,000 job offerings, according to Ohio Means Jobs. The bulk of those jobs are as you’d expect—about 12 percent office work, nine percent transportation, nine percent food prep and about nine percent sales. (Arts, sports and media, a little over one percent.)
To fill those empty seats, Shah and GCP in general have long been trying to target and attract young professionals, to convince them that the city is a place to live, work and play (to use a Bibbism).
Which isn’t too hard of a sell. Cleveland’s average rent, $1,200, is 40 percent below the national average, and really hasn’t fluctionated that much in the past year. And for the most part, wages here have just about kept up with inflation, according to the Federal Reserve.
That leaves really just one question—Is Cleveland a place that young people really want to live and work in for the foreseeable future?
That might be GCP’s next endeavor: perfect how the city experience is sold to job seekers.
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed