January 2022 Philadelphia Mastermind Group Key Take Aways!
- Unemployment in the Philadelphia Metro area (Philadelphia and Delaware counties) had been on a long uptrend before the pandemic. It fell sharply at the beginning of the pandemic and is now recovering, but not yet fully recovered. Philadelphia lags behind the national average. (Karl Kever – Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- The largest industry in the Philadelphia Metro area is Education and Health Services, which makes up 30% of the labor market in the area. This is followed by Professional Services and Trades, Transportation and Utilities. (Karl Kever – Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Leisure & Hospitality have seen a 20.5% increase in employment from November 2020 to November 2021, but that was the hardest hit sector. The Information sector has seen a 8.1% increase in the same time frame and is the only sector to exceed Feb 2020 numbers. Retail Trade is close to its Feb 2020 levels. (Karl Kever – Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- People in the area with less education were harder hit by unemployment than people with higher education. (Karl Kever – Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Companies are having difficulty hiring, with more job openings year over year that are outpacing new hires. More people are quitting than getting laid off. People have a variety of reasons for quitting, including childcare issues, looking for higher pay as a new hire, and people looking for more flexibility. (Karl Kever – Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Both the December 2021 Consumer Price Index and the December 2021 Real Earnings will be released January 12th at 8:30 AM. The December 2021 Producer Price Index will be released January 13th at 8:30 AM. (Karl Kever – Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Many firms remain busy with 2022 looking to continue that trend, especially in Multi-Family and Joint Ventures. Other busy areas include multi-family in the suburbs, assisted living facilities, and self-storage. (Sara McCormick – Ballard Spahr, Matt Musilli – Johnson, Kendall & Johnson, Tony Ianuale – Dresdner Robin)
- Rent growth continues and the retention rates are slightly higher as well. Apartments near hospitals tend to do well because the tenants are more consistent and more serious. (Christian Dalzell – Counter Management)
- No new tax laws were enacted in 2021. While there are some proposals for retroactive changes to the SALT deduction, it’s unlikely that would happen. (Ed Opall – EisnerAmper)
- Omicron has been disruptive to businesses, especially to small businesses. Though hospitalization and deaths have become the new focus, rising cases are creating more labor pressures. There are concerns some small businesses may not survive this wave without the PPP assistance. (Paul Flora – Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia)
- Staffing continues to be a serious concern. Some companies are hiring semi-retired part time employees as a temporary solution, but still don’t have a long term solution. (Jim Karmolinski – Kelly Maiello Architects, Ed Opall – EisnerAmper)
- Old City District is seeing a lot of activity at the ground level. Residency has increased and retail vacancies have improved. They are starting a Retail Attraction Program and hope to improve vacancies to pre-pandemic levels. The Office market is another story and restaurants continue to struggle because of it. They are also in a Keystone Innovation Zone. (Job Itzkowitz – Old City District)
- Old City District finally has a deal in place for Riverwards Produce to come to their area, after starting a bid to attract a grocery store back in 2016. (Job Itzkowitz – Old City District)
- A committee was formed to help work with the City Council on creating tax reform and to help develop a budget. (Stephen Mullin – eConsult Solutions)
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