Inclusive Growth Dashboard

Job growth data can illustrate the economic situation within an economy. The more job growth there is, the better we can assume the economy is doing and vice versa. In measuring job growth, we hope to see increases in family-sustaining occupations across industries and types of skills—particularly when compared to the seven-peer metropolitan statistical areas included below. 

The economic costs to our region’s labor market were significant in the Spring of 2020. All eight regions experienced the same trend of a sharp decrease in jobs in 2020, followed by an increase in total jobs in the following years. In the five-year span of 2019-2023, Boston and Pittsburgh were the only regions where job numbers declined. Philadelphia landed in the middle of the pack compared to peer regions in post-pandemic job growth, with a 3.2% increase in jobs from pre-2020 levels.

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics via Haver Analytics, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Use of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) allows for an analysis of job growth by industry. From 2019-2023 Greater Philadelphia performed about average compared to peer regions, experiencing particularly large losses in the Retail Trade sector. The region performed well in the Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities sector compared to peer regions, and made steady gains in Education and Health Services. 

Low-, medium-, and high-skilled occupations are classified by Job Zone, which is a way of grouping occupations that are similar in requirements for education, related experience, and on-the-job training. Job Zones, as classified by O*Net, are split into 5 different zones, where Zone 1 occupations require little to no preparation or previous work-related experience, and Zone 5 occupations require extensive preparation and related skill, knowledge, and experience. Equitable growth across Job Zones indicates that the full workforce is experiencing an inclusive economic recovery.

From 2019-2023, all peer regions saw positive job growth across Job Zones 4 and 5, while results for other Job Zones were mixed. In Greater Philadelphia from 2019-2023, Zones 4 and 5 experienced positive job growth while Zones 1, 2, and 3 experienced decline. This illustrates that jobs that require less experience or preparation have not recovered to pre-2020 levels, while those require more have surpassed 2019 figures.  

In the 2022-2023 period, Greater Philadelphia did not witness substantially greater growth in any Job Zone compared to their peers. However, the region did experience the second-largest growth in Zones 4 and 5, following Dallas and Pittsburgh, respectively.   

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

This chart shows the change in total number of jobs divided by micro and small businesses (i.e., those with 1-49 employees), mid-size businesses (50-499), and large businesses (500+) in Philadelphia County from the beginning of 2019 through the second quarter of 2023. As evidenced by the below, employment bottomed out for small businesses in Q3-2020, before beginning its recovery in subsequent quarters. In Q2 2023, employment continues to surpass pre-pandemic levels with 129,234 jobs, after hitting a 3-year high of 141,980 in Q4 2022.

Source: US Census Bureau, The Pew Charitable Trusts

Wage growth is a critical metric to track when seeking to understand underlying dynamics within our regional economy with direct implications on personal income, personal consumption expenditures, productivity, and affordability. As such, we measure wage growth across race, ethnicity, and gender as an indicator of inclusive growth. The charts below track median individual income in the Greater Philadelphia region compared to the seven-peer metropolitan statistical areas included below. Please note that given differences in the cost of living across geographies, the below figures do not necessarily indicate the affordability of a specific metro area.  

This chart shows the median income across industry and job levels, as well as demographic groups, in 2022. The growth rate of overall wages can help us understand labor market conditions in a specific geographic area. It is important to note that all regions saw an increase in wages from 2021-2022. Despite paying consistently low wages when compared to peer regions, Philadelphia ranks near the middle in overall median individual income, when not broken down by factors such as race and gender. 

Source: Census Bureau 2022 ACS 5-yr Estimates 

This chart shows the median individual income in the calendar year 2022, disaggregated by race and ethnicity. When measuring median individual income by race, Greater Philadelphia did not consistently perform better than any peer region. Greater Philadelphia saw equity in wage growth compared to peer cities in 2022, with the second lowest variance in wage growth rates among all racial groups. Furthermore, all race categories, except Asians, saw higher wage growth in 2021-2022 compared to the previous year. 

Among all Greater Philadelphia-region gender and racial groups, Black men had the highest growth in wage rates between 2021 and 2022. Black males saw a 10.2% wage growth, surpassing the Asian males' group that enjoyed the most growth in the period between 2020 and 2021. Black women, however, saw lower wage growth rates of 8.2%, two percentage points below Black men's advancements over the same period. In these metrics, Greater Philadelphia is second-only to Washington, D.C. 

While, interestingly, the data shows that Black Philadelphians experience the best levels of wage equity across the genders—with Black women earning only 7% less than men—Black wages still remain at 75% of the average Philadelphian's earnings, and—staggeringly—at only 64% of the average white non-Hispanic Philadelphian's earnings in 2022. 

Wages in the Hispanic/Latinx group, however, are the lowest compared to the aggregate Philadelphian's wage (30% lower) and the white non-Hispanic Philadelphian's wage (a startling 40% lower). According to 2022 wage data, Hispanic/Latino men earn the lowest salaries of any male racial group in Philadelphia, at an average of $37,246. However, this is still 22% higher than the average earnings in the Hispanic/Latina females' group. Hispanic/Latina women saw the lowest wage growth rates among all racial and gender groups in the region between 2021 and 2022, at 7.9%, and earn the average lowest total wages of any group in the Philadelphia region: $29,085.  

Source: Census Bureau 2022 ACS 5-yr Estimates

This chart shows the median individual income in calendar year 2022, disaggregated by gender and race. Reductions in pay inequalities have been linked to higher and more sustainable periods of economic growth. On average, across race and region, women are paid less than men. This holds true in Philadelphia, where the average woman’s earnings are only 73% of the average man’s earnings.  

Poverty reduction is an important metric to track in tandem with wage growth when seeking to understand economic inclusivity and stability. Should the top 10% of earners in a region experience wage growth, the region's overall median individual income will also rise. However, the increased earnings for the top earners will not necessarily result in a proportionate reduction in poverty. As such, these two measures taken together paint a more comprehensive picture of a region's economic strength than they would separately.  

In the calendar year 2022, the overall poverty rate in Greater Philadelphia was higher than in any of the other metropolitan statistical areas in this comparison. It is particularly important to note the difference between measuring Philadelphia at the metro level versus measuring Philadelphia at the city level. While the poverty rate in the Greater Philadelphia region is 11.7%, the poverty rate in the City of Philadelphia is significantly higher, at 22.7%. 

Source: Census Bureau 2022 ACS 5-Year Estimates

Disaggregating poverty rates by gender shows an additional degree of intersectionality when taken together with the below. Of the eight regions presented here, Greater Philadelphia had the highest rate of poverty overall in 2021, and the highest poverty rates among men and women as distinct groups. Across most metros, women’s poverty rates are at least 2 percentage points higher than men’s poverty rates. 

Poverty thresholds and guidelines related to income amounts vary depending on family size and structure. Measuring the poverty rate by family size and income, instead of by individual and income, provides a deeper understanding of potential financial constraints. The Washington, D.C., Denver, and Boston metropolitan statistical areas consistently had the lowest familial poverty rate in 2022, while Philadelphia's total poverty rate in families was higher than any other region. Additionally, Philadelphia families of all sizes experienced a higher-than-average rate of poverty when compared to peer regions, at 8.3% of families living in poverty. 

Source: Census Bureau 2022 ACS 5-Year Estimates, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Many racial and ethnic minority groups have historically been over-represented in the populations experiencing poverty compared to their volume in the overall measured population. In calendar year 2022, the poverty rate in the Greater Philadelphia region (measured here by the race of heads of households) was above average for Black/African American heads of household, Asian heads of household, and Hispanic/Latinx heads of household. However, Philadelphia's poverty rate for white heads of household is on par with the average, at 3.7%. From 2021-2022, there was no significant shift in poverty rates by race in any metropolitan area.