Birmingham is less negatively affected by COVID-19 than other metros, two recent national studies show.
Two national studies show that Birmingham’s negative impact from COVID-19 isn’t as substantial as other metros across the country.
In its Metro Recovery Index, Brookings Institution examined 53 very large metro areas with populations over 1 million and found that the Birmingham region was only down 5.8 percent in jobs and down 1.5 percent in job postings. That put Birmingham’s labor market in the top 10 metros least affected by COVID-19 since February 2020 and its jobless rate only up 6.9 percent, placing the region alongside metros like Phoenix and Washington D.C. with relatively lower jobless levels.
And the U.S. Census’ Small Business Pulse Survey showed Birmingham’s small businesses are faring better than others. When asked how their business had been affected by COVID-19, Birmingham had the lowest percentage of small businesses reporting a large negative effect (24.3 percent) among the nation’s top 50 metros.
However, as the pandemic continues to disrupt the economy, Birmingham’s business executives are less confident in the economy than they have been in eight years, according to data from the Alabama Business Confidence Index (ABCI) gathered in the first half of June 2020.
Confidence in Birmingham fell 11.1 points from the second quarter 2020 to the third quarter 2020, clocking in at 44.7 for the third quarter, indicating lessening confidence in economic activity. Specifically, the data shows, business leaders are most concerned about industry capital expenditure, hiring and profits; the outlook on industry sales, meanwhile, is only mildly negative. Statewide, the confidence index was 51.8.
"Since this downturn was caused by a pandemic, Birmingham's economy has been more resilient this time around when compared to other metros and our performance during the Great Recession,” said Emily Jerkins, director of research at the Birmingham Business Alliance. “We think our region's strong health care industry, emerging biotechnology and tech industry, and historical strengths in distribution and logistics and manufacturing, including food and beverage, poise Birmingham for a better recovery this time around."
Interested in learning more about Birmingham market trends? Join the Birmingham Business Alliance at 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 27 for the second Market Insights on the Birmingham Region, featuring Anoop Mishra of the Federal Reserve of Atlanta. Click here to register.