Strong job prospects and good job programs are expected to spur Philadelphia foreclosure investing.
About 73 percent of employers in the Philadelphia region reported they are expecting no job cuts this year and about 10 percent are planning to hire more employees this year. These percentages are strong offsets for the estimated 11 percent that expects to cut jobs this year.
Larry Delp, executive vice president of Sovereign/Santander Bank who presented the job expectations by employers at the latest Economic Outlook Breakfast meeting of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, said he expects the jobless rate to fall in the first three months of 2010.
In another report released by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, signs of job growth and industry expansion in the manufacturing sector are also being observed, affirming current efforts in Philadelphia foreclosure investing.
The reserve bank reported that shipments, new orders and hiring in the manufacturing sector surged in the first months of 2010 and that the percentage of manufacturing firms reporting job creation is higher than the percentage of companies reporting job cuts.
Statewide, the adjusted number of total nonfarm jobs increased by 9,600. Jobs were added in the education, leisure, hospitality and health services sectors. The Pennsylvania unemployment rate remained steady at 8.8 percent in January. Initially, the December jobless rate was 8.9 percent, but was adjusted down to 8.8 percent.
In the Philadelphia-Camden metropolitan area, the unemployment rate in December was 8.7 percent.
In January, Mayor Michael Nutter set in motion his new job program called PhillyWorks: Growing Neighborhood Jobs, which was designed to help under-employed workers get better-paying jobs and help the unemployed get back to work.
The program offers career coaching and adult literacy classes, on-the-job training and placement services. Residents who are able to complete the programs are expected to get employed by companies participating in the Industry Partnerships program of the Workforce Investment Board.
Despite a 15-percent year-over-year surge in pre-foreclosures in Philadelphia and in the flow of properties entering Philadelphia foreclosure listings in 2009, Greater Philadelphia is still holding up much better than many other large metropolitan areas. Out of 203 large metro areas surveyed by a real estate firm, the Philadelphia area was in the lower half of the rankings based on ratio of foreclosure postings to number of households.
The availability of foreclosure properties and strong prospects for economic growth are among the major drivers encouraging more people to go into Philadelphia foreclosure investing.
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