South Bend/Mishawaka Elkhart/Goshen.

• Author: Joray, Paul A.
• Position: South Bend and Elkhart, Indiana metropolitan areas - Statistical Data Included

In the early 1950s, both the South Bend-Mishawaka and Elkhart-Goshen local economies featured very strong manufacturing sectors. More than half of all employment in both economies was in manufacturing. In the 1960s and 1970s, employment in the South Bend-Mishawaka local economy, like most local economies in the U.S., shifted from manufacturing to non-manufacturing. By 2000, manufacturing employment made up only 16 percent of total employment. In contrast, manufacturing employment in the Elkhart-Goshen economy, led by the recreational vehicle and manufactured housing industries, continued to grow as fast as non-manufacturing employment. In 2000, manufacturing employment made up 51 percent of total employment, the highest percentage of any MSA in the U.S. Table 1 shows average unemployment rates and uses seasonally-adjusted index numbers to show average levels of employment for the years 1994 through the first half of 2001. Data in Table 1 indicate that the trends mentioned above were continuing until the current year, with manufacturing employment in South Bend growing 1.6 percent from 1994 through 2000, and manufacturing employment in Elkhart growing 11.4 percent during the same period. Recently, manufacturing employment has declined in both local economies.

The South Bend-Mishawaka economy has performed well since 1994. Total employment grew rapidly from 1994 to 1995, leveled off in 1996, and grew again, at a slower rate, from 1997 through the first half of 2001. Employment grew 9 percent during this period. Non-manufacturing employment increased consistently during this period, but manufacturing was up and down depending upon the national economy and specific situations facing local firms. The current downturn in manufacturing at the national level is reflected locally by a nearly 5 percent drop in manufacturing employment. Unemployment rates dropped from an average of 4.4 percent in 1994 to 3.3 percent in 1997, and have remained at very low levels until this year. The local labor market has been very tight since 1997, but the most recent monthly rates show an increase to the levels last seen in 1994 and 1995.

The Elkhart-Goshen economy has also performed well since 1994. Total employment grew rapidly in every year since 1994, except for a slight decline in 1996 and slow growth in 1997. From 1994 through 2000 employment grew 12 percent. Total employment declined in the first half of 2001, as the decline in manufacturing jobs more than...