Springfield area ranks No. 20 nationally for job growth

The Springfield metropolitan statistical area ranked No. 20 on the publication’s 2007 midsize “Boomtowns,” climbing five slots from 2006. Overall, Springfield ranked No. 86 among 393 Boomtowns, a 27-spot jump from last year.

The ranking focuses on job growth, both current and throughout the past 10 years.

Springfield experienced 2.2 percent growth in its nonfarm jobs between 2005 and 2006 and 9.8 percent growth in nonfarm jobs between 2001 and 2006.

“Regions showing strong job creation are likely to be hotbeds of entrepreneurial activity,” the article states, citing the U.S. Small Business Administration’s estimate that as many as 75 percent of new jobs are created by small businesses.

Contributing most to the area’s expanding employment base, according to the article, are Springfield’s hottest industries: leisure, business services and financial services.

The Springfield area’s employment closed 2006 at about 194,600, according to the listing. The city was the only in Missouri to break the Top 20 and one of only a handful of cities in the Midwest to do so this year.

Columbia ranked No. 69 overall, and Joplin ranked No. 213 overall. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., ranked first among midsize cities, and St. George, Utah, ranked No. 1 among all cities.[[In-content Ad]]