When reports show an increase in jobs, it is usually a positive indicator of the economy heading upward. However, in the case of a report released last week showing growth in East Lansing and Lansing jobs, it should be taken with a grain of salt.
The data collected by The Urban Institute — an institute that researches social and economic issues in America — ranked the East Lansing and Lansing metropolitan area top in the country for job creation in the fields of manufacturing, goods producing and transportation and utilities. The area has added 23.3 percent more jobs in manufacturing and 17.1 percent more jobs in goods production from June 2009 to October 2011.
Although any sign of job growth in the area is a good sign, the report might not be an accurate representation of the East Lansing and Lansing economy.
Manufacturing is a limited field that is not a reliable indicator of jobs increasing in the area. The field of manufacturing is not broad enough to make an influence on an entire economy, although reports lead some to believe so.
East Lansing Planning and Community Development Director Tim Dempsey believes some of the job growth success is attributed to the regrowth of the auto industry in nearby Lansing.
Since President Barack Obama’s bailout of the auto industry in 2009, production of automobiles has been growing in Detroit. The report showing growth in manufacturing in the Lansing area might just be an effect of the industry rebuilding itself in Detroit.
Manufacturing also is not a field that people are jumping into after college. It’s not on par with business, engineering, technology and other popular fields that college graduates are looking for careers in, which makes the report from The Urban Institute misleading.
It would be a more telling sign to see statistics illustrating local growth in more popular job fields rather than a smaller field such as manufacturing.
The Lansing area also was ranked last out of 100 metropolitan areas in job growth in leisure and hospitality, according to The Urban Institute, which is surprising.
The MSU School of Hospitality Business is highly regarded, and with the Kellogg Center directly on campus it would seem the area would be ranked much higher. It is regrettable that students don’t have a better opportunity to obtain real-world hospitality business experience close to campus.
The report ranks the Lansing area well in one field, but low in another. Neither field is vital to the overall economy. They are very small pieces to a large puzzle and fail to accurately represent the economy of local cities.
Although any job creation in the Lansing area is a positive sign, it isn’t a reliable indicator of the future success of the economy.
The Lansing area still is last in certain sectors, and the status of other growing fields remains to be seen.
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