Sectors and Jobs in Metropolitan Economies

Urban development policies have several objectives with respect to local labor markets. The total number of jobs created by an urban project is certainly important. This Note focuses on more detailed labor market effects. Different urban development policies can have various effects on the local rate of long-term structural unemployment because certain sectors are more likely to hire employees from that group. Because youths, minorities, and the poorly educated are more likely to be unemployed than other groups, the author wanted to find out which, if any, of the service sectors were most likely to hire members of these groups. Second, the quality of jobs is important. Two measures that certainly ought to be included in any accounting of job quality are wages and potential for earnings growth. This Note examines the degree to which the jobs in different sectors vary along these two dimensions. Section II discusses the findings with respect to the distribution of jobs by sector and by type of labor. Section III compares two dimensions of job quality that sectors hire.