Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore says region 'holding its own'

Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore says region 'holding its own'

Baltimore Business Journal - by Ryan Sharrow Staff

Greater Baltimore is riding out the recession better than most of the top 25 U.S. cities, according to recent data compiled by the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore.

The organization found that Greater Baltimore had the third-lowest unemployment rate, 5.4 percent, as of December 2008. The region's employment rate decline of 0.2 percent was also the seventh smallest drop nationally.

The group's report, released Monday, compared economic indicators in the top 25 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Most of the data was from the end of 2008.

Greater Baltimore also ranked sixth, with a 3.2 percent increase, in the growth of professional, scientific and technical services. Baltimore's metropolitan median home price drop was 5.5 percent, the second lowest among the major U.S. cities.

"While the recession continues to negatively impact every major U.S. market, Greater Baltimore is holding its own, cushioned by its high concentration of employment in more insulated industries - such as information technology, health care, and education - as well as the region's relatively low exposure to foreclosures and dramatically declining home prices," CEO J. Thomas Sadowski said in a statement.

Sadowski also cited a Forbes study ranking Baltimore as a top city for job growth in 2009.

The Alliance attributes the strong rankings to Baltimore's core base of education and health care institutions.