Regional Direction
September 22nd 2021
Inflation in Greater Philadelphia – Part 1: De-Mystifying Local Inflation
As Greater Philadelphia’s economy slowly emerges from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation has become a growing concern. The pandemic-induced economic lockdowns caused major supply chain disruptions across the globe that will have a long-term impact on the price of goods and services.... Read More
Regional Direction
September 8th 2021
Declining Homeownership in Philadelphia
Philadelphia has long been touted as an affordable big city [1]. As shown in figure 1, it has the highest owner-occupancy rate among its peer Northeast cities, at 53.0 percent. FIGURE 1 SOURCE: Data were obtained from five-year estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community... Read More
Regional Direction
August 25th 2021
Restaurant Revitalization Funds in Philadelphia
As part of the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021, the U.S. Congress allocated $28.6 billion to the Small Business Administration (SBA) to aid food or drink establishments that had lost revenues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program provides funds for establishments where “the... Read More
Regional Direction
August 11th 2021
Evictions in Philadelphia: A Review of Eviction Lab’s Data
This article was upated and amended on 16 August 2021. On August 3, President Biden announced an extension of the Center for Disease Control’s national moratorium on evictions, which was put in place in September 2020 to prevent a nation-wide surge in evictions. Originally set to expire on... Read More
Regional Direction
July 28th 2021
Philadelphia’s Economic Competitiveness – PART 4: City to City Business Growth
In this brief, we complete our baseline comparison of Philadelphia’s economic competitiveness. This piece (along with the preceding three issues) will serve as a jumping-off point for examining the factors that influence Philadelphia’s ability to develop and attract new businesses, grow existing... Read More
Regional Direction
July 14th 2021
Philadelphia’s Economic Competitiveness – PART 3: City to City Employment and Wages
In this Leading Indicator, we continue our series exploring the economic competitiveness of Philadelphia across measures of employment and business growth. In the previous two issues, we compared employment and business growth metrics for the City of Philadelphia with its neighboring suburban... Read More
Regional Direction
June 30th 2021
Philadelphia’s Economic Competitiveness – PART 2: City and Suburban Business Growth
We continue our series on Philadelphia’s economic competitiveness by comparing the growth of private businesses in the city and surrounding suburban counties. As discussed in the first issue of this series, the debate around Philadelphia’s poverty, business vitality, and employment opportunities... Read More
Regional Direction
June 16th 2021
Philadelphia’s Economic Competitiveness – PART 1: City and Suburban Employment and Wages
Author’s Note: With ongoing debates about altering the city’s tax structure, the dominant narrative is that the City of Philadelphia is less economically competitive than other areas. Using updated numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and other administrative data resources, we begin... Read More
Regional Direction
June 2nd 2021
Living Wage Employment in Greater Philadelphia
With debates raging about labor shortages and quality jobs, both in our region and across the country, we turn our sights on this issue by examining the growth of jobs above and below Great Philadelphia’s living wage. In 2020, this figure—which is based on the minimum level of income an individual... Read More
Regional Direction
May 19th 2021