Duh-duh-duh-duuuuh….bum-bum…bum-bum! That’s right, it’s Monday Night Football season! At Vertical IQ, we definitely get fired up about NFL games, in part because of our highly competitive office fantasy football league. But this year, we thought we’d put our own spin on Monday-Funday with the Gameday Economic Play-by-Play blog series, using our Industry Intelligence to showcase competing teams’ hometowns.
Tonight’s game sees the New Orleans Saints take on the Kansas City Chiefs. These two cities are both known for their jazz and food scenes, but let’s take a look to see what makes each of them unique.
The big picture of the Big Easy’s economy
The greater New Orleans area, which includes Metairie and Kenner, has seen its share of struggles. Of course the most serious in recent memory was the devastation wrought in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, which left most of the city underwater, causing more than $160 billion in damage.
Today, New Orleans has mostly recovered from Katrina, but the city still grapples with its share of economic challenges. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (found in the Local Economies section of Vertical IQ), the greater New Orleans area had -0.58% job growth, compared to the positive national average of 1.18%. Likewise, joblessness is up in the region, with unemployment rates going from 3.5% last year to 4.5% as of February of this year. That’s compared to the latest U.S. average of 3.8%.
Housing prices in the Crescent City are also trending downward, per the latest data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Current prices are flat, versus the national average of a 5% increase in home values. And the home price outlook isn’t any sunnier with Local Market Monitor predicting values to sink to -3% this year as compared to the national forecast of a -2% decrease in value.
Industries in New Orleans
The city of New Orleans has long been a destination for tourists and trade. That holds true today with the majority of jobs being in food services and drinking places (56,508 jobs), and restaurants (47,946 jobs), based on the most current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages found under the Local Economies section of Vertical IQ. The next largest employers are hospitals with 25,074 jobs.
Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers in the Localized Industry Data for the Restaurants Industry Profile show that there are 2,930 restaurants in New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, an increase of 3.1% from the prior year. In the three years last reported, the city’s number of restaurants increased by 218. However, the local population changed by -0.4% from the previous year. The increase in restaurants and decrease in population could indicate greater market competition.
Similarly, the industries in the city getting the most SBA loan dollars in the last 20 years are hotels and motels (16 loans; $48,047,400) and full-service restaurants (107 loans; $46,508,600), as well as dentist offices (24 loans; $12,985,400). But a look at the industry with the most growth in the New Orleans area is also rather eye-opening.
Situated near the mouth of the Mississippi River and along the I-10 corridor, the port of New Orleans’ six tank and shipping container manufacturers saw the largest percentage growth of any industry in the area, up 57.95%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This boost in shipping container manufacturing is closely tied to the city’s 112 locations for inland water transportation, an industry that has increased 21.7% in greater New Orleans in the past three years, compared to the industry’s national increase of 16.9%.
The Kansas City economy is cooking
Sitting at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the greater Kansas City metropolitan area straddles the border between the rivers’ namesake states with the downtown area in Missouri. Though the city does serve as a port along the rivers, the economy of Kansas City is quite different from New Orleans.
Local Economies data on Vertical IQ shows that the greater Kansas City area has seen recent growth that bests the national average in many cases. For example, the city’s job growth rate was 1.26% last year, as compared to the U.S. average of 1.18%. Likewise, the town’s unemployment rate was 3.6% as of February of this year. While that’s up a tick from the 3.2% unemployment in KC a year ago, it is still lower than the national average of 3.9%.
Looking at home prices in Kansas City, there’s more bright news with values up 8% per the latest data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Compare that to national home prices, which were up 5% in that same dataset. As for the home price forecast, Kansas City is on par with the national average of -2%, based on predictions from Local Market Monitor.
Industries in Kansas City
As you might gather from these economic figures, Kansas City is a growing area, especially by comparison to New Orleans. However, similar to New Orleans, the majority of people in KC are employed by food services and drinking places (87,064 jobs), restaurants (78,573 jobs), and hospitals (44,633 jobs), per the most current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages found under the Local Economies section of Vertical IQ.
The Localized Industry Data for the Restaurants Industry Profile shows that there are 3,247 restaurants in Kansas City, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. That’s an increase of 3.3% from the previous year. Also, in the three years last reported, the number of restaurants increased by 164, potentially indicating greater market competition. The good news for KC restaurants is that the local economy also grew 3.0% last year, compared to the national average of 1.9%, and a strong local economy should boost restaurant demand.
Examining SBA loans in Kansas City, found under the Local Economies section of Vertical IQ, we see that the industries receiving the most SBA dollars are hotels and motels (30 loans; $72,719,300), full-service restaurants (131 loans; $63,090,300), limited-service restaurants (81 loans; $38,797,900), and childcare services (35 loans; $27,771,900).
But Kansas City wasn’t nicknamed “Cowtown” for nothing. Its stockyards have ushered through up to 1 million animals a year from 35 states during its heyday, second only to the historic yards in Chicago. We continue to see a number of prospering industries in KC tied to animal production including leather manufacturing (up 108.33%), dairy product manufacturing (up 53.05%), and cattle production (up 10.98%).
Putting a local spin on business
Who will you be rooting for in the Monday night matchup between the Saints and the Chiefs? Those of us in fantasy leagues have to remember to pick with our heads, not our hearts! But I would also note that our Gameday Economic Play-by-Play blog series isn’t just about fun and games either.
Business owners need to be able to apply economic predictions to their business planning efforts. While they often have good business instincts, they may lack reliable industry and economic data to support their intuition.
When sales professionals use Vertical IQ to gain economic insights about a specific geographic area or how an industry operates within a specific metropolitan statistical area (MSA)/county, you can bolster your status as an industry and economic insider, elevating your trusted advisor with that business owner.
Vertical IQ’s Local Economies and Localized Industry Data helps you:
- Substantiate your recommendations with facts.
- Provide clients with value-added context and insight they need to make better decisions.
- Assess potential risks with greater precision.
Want to up your game with this type of targeted economic and Industry Intelligence? Contact us today to learn more about Vertical IQ!