Usually a hot housing market trails a hot job market. Could the same hold true for these booming employment centers? Gallup’s Job Creation Index highlights where hiring activity has most been on the rise in 50 of the largest U.S. metro areas.
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The top two places garnering the most jobs lately: Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, according to Gallup’s index.
The increase of technology jobs is driving employment in many of the metros topping the list. In particular, Austin and Salt Lake City are attractive places for tech workers since the salaries are more competitive and the cities boast a lower cost of living than in the traditional tech-hub of California, according to the Gallup index. Salt Lake City is also seeing a growth in tourism and energy sector jobs.
“The growth in job creation in both Austin and Salt Lake City also spills over into growth in housing and construction jobs to meet the basic needs of the growing workforce in those areas,” Gallup reports.
The Gallup index found the highest job creation index scores among the 50 largest metro areas in 2014 were in the following metros:
Salt Lake City, Utah
Austin-Round Rock, Texas
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich.
Raleigh, N.C.
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.
Source: “Austin, Salt Lake City Lead U.S. Metros in Job Creation,” Gallup.com (March 2015)
