Even within the city of Philadelphia, job levels have stabilized during the past year. The suburban areas of Philadelphia, such as here along the Main Line, have enjoyed strong job growth and lower unemployment rates than the region as a whole. Suburban unemployment rates in our region, for instance, are generally below 4 percent. These favorable trends in job growth and unemployment are likely to continue during the coming year. But, again, we must not become complacent.
Many challenges remain.
Even though state and local authorities are taking action to make Pennsylvania and Philadelphia more attractive to businesses, this will be a continuing challenge. Other communities, both in Pennsylvania and in other states, are also looking for ways to make their regions more attractive for businesses to locate there. What's more, some of the deregulation that has helped to keep our nation's economy dynamic has also led to some significant disruptions in local communities. We can see this in the banking industry, where the deregulation of interstate branching is leading to many bank mergers. In the Philadelphia region, the CoreStates-First Union merger will mean substantial disruptions for many bank employees and their families.