Initiative for a Competitive Inner City Releases Second Report in Series Analyzing How the Coronavirus Recession and Recovery Have Affected Businesses and Jobs in the Nation's 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas

BOSTON, January 20, 2022 /3BL Media/ - Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) today published the second 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 third 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.

“While businesses and jobs are steadily climbing toward pre-pandemic levels, Covid’s toll continues to disproportionately impact the smallest businesses,” said ICIC CEO Steve Grossman. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. It is imperative that entrepreneurs are supported with access to strategies and resources that help address their continuing challenges and critical needs to ensure they remain viable through this economic crisis and emerge stronger.”

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 second report in this series focuses on the Austin-Round Rock, TX metro area which experienced the most rapid job growth rate (15%) amongst all under-resourced communities in the top 100 metro areas between the second and third quarters of 2021.

Austin’s exceptional growth in the third quarter of 2021 was largely attributable to large-scale plant openings or expansions in the information and manufacturing industries, which helped drive employment in Austin’s largest businesses (those with 100 or more employees) higher than it was at the start of the pandemic. However, the metro area’s smallest businesses (those with one to four employees) continued to suffer, recovering to only 82% of their pre-crisis employment level in the third quarter of last year.

“The reports and dashboard will be 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.

Among the report’s key findings:

• Top 100 Metro Rankings: Although all metros gained jobs from the second to the third quarter of 2021, these gains differed greatly by metro area. Among the top 100 metros areas, Baton Rouge, LA, had the fastest job growth rate (3.5%) from the second to the third quarter of 2021, while Colorado Springs, CO, had the slowest (a job loss of 5.6%).
   
• ​Strong Recovery of Both Businesses and Jobs: In the top 100 metro areas as a whole, both the number of businesses and the number of jobs continued to recover in the third quarter of 2021. In the third quarter, the number of jobs was 92% of its pre-crisis level and the number of businesses was at 86%.
   
• Small Business Jobs Recovery Continued to Lag: While businesses of all sizes added jobs during the third quarter of 2021, the smallest businesses continued to suffer more than larger ones. In the third quarter, businesses with one to four employees had just 82% of the jobs they had at the start of the pandemic, while those with 100 or more employees had 97%.
   
• Jobs Rebounded Faster in Asian- and Pacific Islander-, Black- and Hispanic/Latino-Owned Businesses than in White-Owned Businesses: From the second quarter to the third quarter, the job growth rate was 3.7% for Black-owned businesses, 3.4% for Asian- and Pacific Islander-owned businesses, and 3.3% for Hispanic/Latino-owned businesses, while employment at white-owned businesses rose by only 2.2%.
   
• Accommodation and Food Services Jobs Recovery Continued to Suffer: All the key industries within the top 100 metro areas gained jobs during the third quarter of 2021 with healthcare experiencing the fastest job growth during the quarter, increasing from 94% of its pre-crisis employment level in the second quarter of the year to 96% in the third quarter. The accommodation and food services (including hotels, restaurants, and similar businesses) industry continued to suffer, recovering only to 87% of its employment in the third quarter of 2020 (up from 86% in the second quarter).

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.