DC among nation’s top 5 cities for job growth
Washington DC, Thomas Circle, George Henry Thomas, Union Army, equestrian statue and skyline at dusk. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - The U.S. labor market continues to remain a bright spot in the economy – and the nation’s capital is among the five cities leading the charge.
In August, job openings in the U.S. remained near an all-time high, rising at a healthy 3.2 percent year-over-year to 5.94 million available positions, according to new data published by Glassdoor on Tuesday. That’s just below July’s revised all-time high of 6 million job openings.
Job openings grew at a 4.9 percent in Washington, D.C., with more than 190,500 available positions. Those jobs have a median income of $61,956.
Although job opening growth cooled slightly compared to 2018 -- and pay growth remains stubbornly low, holding steady at 1.9 percent -- August figures ultimately showed the labor market continues to expand at a moderate pace that’s fundamentally healthy.
Americans mostly dismissed recession fears, remaining confident in the state of the economy, with consumer sentiment near generational highs. That’s helping to boost industries like retail, restaurant and bars, and beauty and fitness.
Among the top five, D.C. is squarely behind Atlanta at No. 4:
1.) Boston: Jobs expanded by 8.5 percent in Boston, the fastest pace of any U.S. city. In part, that’s because Boston benefits from a diversified labor market: It has high-skilled industries like technology, as well as white-collar industries like accounting and legal and consulting. Boston has more than 155,400 open jobs.
2.) Philadelphia: Philadelphia followed Boston, in terms of fastest-growing job growth. Job openings grew by 5.8 percent, year-over-year, in August, with a median base pay of $56,972. There are more than 111,000 jobs in Philadelphia, Glassdoor data found.
3.) Atlanta: With a 5.5 percent pace of job opening growth, Atlanta slightly trailed Philadelphia. The Georgia capital, however, has slightly more available jobs: 122,350. Those jobs have a median base pay of $55,782.
4.) DC
5.) Seattle: Seattle trailed in fifth, with job openings increasing at a 4.3 percent rate year-over-year. In total, the city that birthed Amazon and Microsoft has more than 112,900 available jobs, with a median income of $63,633.