New Albany and Louisville MSA.

• Author: Faulk, Dagney
• Position: New Albany, Indiana; Louisville Metropolitan Area, Kentucky - Statistical Data Included

In the year 2001, economic activity in southern Indiana and the Louisville metropolitan area continues to defy national economic trends. Continued employment losses and increases in the unemployment rate in the Louisville area were not as extreme as in other parts of Indiana, Kentucky, and many parts of the U.S. The seven counties in the Louisville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) are Clark, Floyd, Harrison and Scott in southern Indiana and Bullit, Jefferson and Oldham in northern Kentucky. The following analysis examines various measures of economic growth in the Louisville MSA and its component counties. Three additional Indiana counties--Crawford, Orange, and Washington--in the southern Indiana labor market area are included when data are available.

Labor Markets

Throughout 2001, the unemployment rate in the Indiana counties in the Louisville metropolitan area continued to be below or even with that of Indiana as a whole and below that of Kentucky and the United States as shown in Table 1. The September 2000 unemployment rates in the Kentucky counties of the metropolitan area were well below the Kentucky state average at 3.2 percent, 4.0 percent, and 2.2 percent in Bullit, Jefferson, and Oldham counties, respectively. Scott is the first county in the MSA to experience a substantial increase in unemployment. The increasing national unemployment rate indicates that other counties in the Louisville MSA may follow. However, the September 2001 unemployment rate in many counties is below that of 2000.

Recent data for the Louisville MSA (see Table 2) indicate that the average level of nonagricultural employment increased by 7,700 jobs through September of 2001. Manufacturing employment remained steady in southern Indiana and decreased by about 2,400 jobs in the MSA. Non-manufacturing employment remains steady in southern Indiana and grew by about 10,000 jobs in the MSA. The MSA job growth in the non-manufacturing sector was led by increases in the services and retail sectors. Other non-manufacturing sectors remain stable in southern Indiana and the MSA.

Recent data from the Indiana Department of Revenue indicate that 37,500 workers commuted daily between southern Indiana and Kentucky in 1999 (see Table 3).

Several major retail chains are expanding operations in southern Indiana, and the retail sector will experience substantial growth over the next few years. Home Depot and Kohls have recently opened in New Albany, as has a 500-room hotel at...