Indianapolis.

• Author: Marcus, Morton J.
• Position: Brief Article

To write of Indiana is to ignore the three divisions within the state that are of importance. For example, between October 1999 and the same month in 2002, the state lost 81,700 jobs. But none of these jobs were lost in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development show that 65 percent (52,900) of that job loss occurred in the other metro areas of Indiana (see Figure 1). The combination of Indiana's counties that are not part of an MSA, what we will call non-metro areas, accounted for the other 35 percent, a loss of 28,800 jobs. These losses are disproportionate to the distribution of employment in the state (see Figure 2). If Indianapolis had borne its "fair share" of job losses, that nine county area would have lost 24,000 jobs.

[FIGURES 1 OMITTED]

Even among the other metro areas, the record of job losses over the past three years is diverse. Figure 3 shows that the non-metro areas fall in the middle of the metro areas, which range from no change in Indianapolis to a negative 7.9 percent change in Kokomo.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Not only are the rates of job loss different in these three areas of Indiana, but the pattern or time of decline is also different. See Figure 4 where the decline begins in other metro areas before it hits Indianapolis or the non-metro...