Lafayette.

• Author: Smith, James C.
• Position: Employment outlook for 2001 - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

The Lafayette metropolitan area has been the third fastest growing metro area in the state for many years. The area's stable, well-diversified economic structure should help keep that momentum going into 2001.

The final counts for metropolitan areas from the 2000 census will not be released until later in the year. The most recent estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau puts the Lafayette metro area population -- encompassing Tippecanoe and Clinton counties -- at 175,500 people as of July 1999. Through the decade of the 1990s, the Lafayette area population grew about 1% per year. Only Elkhart-Goshen and the greater Indianapolis metro area grew faster (about 1.2% per year each).

This steady population growth is both a cause and an effect of expanding economic activity. When an area offers attractive living conditions and good economic opportunities, it tends to attract new residents. And these new residents spend money and create demand for still more goods and services. This population trend is a good sign for Lafayette's economic future.

While the Lafayette area has been adding population at a rate close to 2,000 people per year, it has been adding new jobs even faster (see Figure 1). Total employment is measured in different ways, but statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the Lafayette area has added about 3,000 new jobs each year since 1993. This high rate of job growth is a good indication of economic strength. It's also a sign that Lafayette is increasingly a regional economic center, drawing people from surrounding counties into its economic activity.

[Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

When job growth exceeds population growth, that drives down the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate for the Lafayette area according to recent estimates from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development is about 1.5%. This remarkably low...