In an August 5 story, Forbes Magazine called Dayton one of America’s ten “Fastest-Dying Cities”. Forbes notes these cities share “fleeing populations, painful waves of unemployment and barely growing economies.” The article claims the rankings are based on U.S. Census Bureau data but does not provide any numerical information for the cities beyond population loss and slow GDP growth. The piece contains plenty of dramatic photos but few numbers.
The Forbes story focuses on the decline of manufacturing jobs in Dayton, but does not address growth in other job sectors. In a February 2006 study, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services identified 25 occupations with high employment Prospects paying at least $12.00 an hour and having at least 25 annual openings for which there is a “skill shortage” in the Dayton area. A 2007 report from Sinclair Community College on the Dayton Region Workforce Strategy identified Aerospace Research and Development, Human Services, Information Technology and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing as “growth sectors” with over 2,500 known future job vacancies.
The Forbes piece highlights the loss in manufacturing jobs in the region, but fails to provide any numerical justification beyond population decline for what makes for a “dying city.”
1 Comment
August 16, 2008 at 9:37 pm
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