Employment and Economic Muscle

By Prashant Gopal

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might think the country is out of the recession, but unemployment is rising from Connecticut to California and banks are taking possession of a growing share of American homes. But some metros across the nation have managed to stay out of the recession’s path and could now be poised for recovery. Using data and analysis from the Brookings Institution’s new MetroMonitor study, BusinessWeek.com ranked the nation’s top 40 economies based on job growth, employment, economic growth, and home prices.

Ogden ranked number 31.

Ogden, on the east face of the Wasatch Mountains, is 45 minutes north of Salt Lake City and was a major venue city for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The area with the highest foreclosure risk is just east of Fort Buenaventura State Park. Employment in the Ogden metro peaked in the fourth quarter of 2007. Gross metropolitan product in the second quarter was down 3.4% from the peak in the second quarter of last year. Home prices fell 1.6% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 6%, up 2.4 points from a year earlier.