Tulsa World: BusinessWeek rank Tulsa No. 7 on strongest city list

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BusinessWeek rank Tulsa No. 7 on strongest city list
Oklahoma City ranks No. 3 on the magazine's list

By LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer
Published: 10/23/2009 6:57 PM
Last Modified: 10/24/2009 8:11 AM

The oil and gas industry has played a key role in helping Tulsa weather the recession, according to a new BusinessWeek study that ranks the metro area near the top of the 40 strongest in the nation.

Tulsa ranked No. 7 on the list, with BusinessWeek’s editors also noting the community’s solid housing market. Oklahoma City was No. 3.

Using data and analysis from the Brookings Institution’s new MetroMonitor study, BusinessWeek.com selected the 40 top economies based on job growth, employment, economic growth and home prices.

“This ranking, as have the many accolades Tulsa has received this year, validates what we’ve been saying about the strength of our regional economy,” said Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Metro Chamber, in e-mailed comments. “Tulsa’s low cost of doing business, our low cost of living, positive job creation, development projects like the BOK Center and downtown ballpark, and announcements like the WNBA and Arena Football 1 headquarters are telling the world that Tulsa is open for business and we are thriving despite the national recession.”

He noted that recognitions from national publications give Tulsa a competitive edge for recruiting new businesses and work force.

Although no metropolitan area entirely avoided the economic downturn, the most resilient metros were protected by a potent mix of recession-resistant jobs, the magazine states. The strongest economies never saw their housing prices get out of control.

Several factors have helped Oklahoma’s metro areas, including

the fact that the state entered the recession much later than most others, explained Steve Agee, professor of economics at Oklahoma City University and chairman of the Oklahoma City branch board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

The state’s unemployment rate has essentially doubled from 3.2 percent in February 2008 to 6.7 in September. Last month’s rate dropped from 6.8 percent in August and was the fifth lowest rate in the nation.

Although September data for the state’s metro areas haven’t been released, the Tulsa area’s August jobless rate climbed to 7.1 percent – its highest in more than 15 years.

“When people say we’re recession poof, that’s nonsense. We’re not recession proof, but relatively speaking when you look at the rest of the country we’re so much better off — No. 1 because we started off at a better position,” Agee said.

By LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer

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