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Fort Wayne outpaces nation in job growth

A new economic report shows Fort Wayne is among the few areas of the country to outpace the national job growth rate.

The report from Garner Economics in Atlanta tracked job growth in the country’s 372 metropolitan statistical areas starting in 2010.

It found Fort Wayne was one of only 23 MSAs to outperform the national average in job growth every month since September of that year.

But the trend actually holds longer than the report outlines.

Additional analysis from John Stafford at the Community Research Institute at IPFW shows the region has actually outpaced the nation in job growth for 28 consecutive months.

Stafford says the report is encouraging, as Northeast Indiana had traditionally been one of the first regions into recessions, and one of the last out.

“We are more diverse in the metropolitan area economy today than we were 20 years ago, or we were 10 years ago,” Stafford said. “I think that’s contributed to part of this."

Stafford says the regional economy has also benefited from a national recovery in manufacturing.

Still, he’s not sure if the trend can continue, given widespread uncertainty over U.S. government debt and taxes, and fiscal worries in the European Union.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the Fort Wayne MSA hit 7.5% in the month of August, compared to 8.3% statewide.

Click hereto read the full report from Garner Economics, LLC.