Philly's Happy to be 5th

Sometimes coming in 5th isn’t so bad. Philadelphia held onto its number five spot when counting down the largest cities in America. 1950 peaked the city its population record at 2.07 million people. After that, changes in industry and the suburbanites exit from the city, the numbers dwindled but Philadelphia stayed in the top five for over 60 years. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston all have higher populations than the City of Brotherly love, which eeked out Phoenix to remain in fifth place. Phoenix was expected to grow faster and larger and predictions for Philadelphia were that it would stay the same if not shrink. Both insights were incorrect. Reaching 1.44 million residents, Phoenix grew by 9.4% but it wasn’t fast enough to surpass Philly which surprisingly saw growth as well. For the first time in 50 years the city’s residents rose by 8,456 bringing the official population to 1.53 million. Mayor Michael Nutter is encouraged by the announcement. "When you have 50 years, 60 years of steady population decline, growing is a big marker. It's a big deal. I think it means something to the psychology of the city, that it's a city that has grown, and will grow." There has been an effort made to bring people back from the suburbs and into the revitalized core of the city. Neighborhood growth can be seen in several places: Center City East grew by 24.7%, Center City West by 12.1% and the Northern Liberties-Fishtown area increased by 23.7%. At a news conference Nutter said, "What this is really about is folks recognizing this city is moving in the right direction. We're the city of the future. People can be anywhere. They are choosing to live in Philadelphia." Not only has Philadelphia grown but the surrounding region has expanded with it. The growth of the city and surrounding suburban counties is expected to help advance the community economically, politically, and psychologically. Nutter feels it’s a win for everyone in town saying, "It's a confidence-booster. It's an image booster. . . . To be now legitimately in the top five cities in the country is putting Philadelphia in the proper spotlight." Well it’s a win for everyone except Phoenix. Tough luck guys, better luck next census. Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Be sure to visit PhillyJobs. By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for PhillyJobsBlog.com, she is co-founder of design and promotion company, Creative Kazoo with fellow Beyond.com blogger, Staci Dennis. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.

Looking for one-hundredth of a job? You're in luck

As we all know -- or we all should know -- small business is the real engine of the American economy. Depending on who you ask and how you define a small business, small businesses employ anywhere from half to two-thirds of all Americans in private nonfarm employment. (For the record, the U.S. Census Bureau defines a "small business" as a company with fewer than 500 employees, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, which uses the Census Bureau definition, says such firms employ 52% of all Americans in private-sector nonfarm employment. These firms also represent 99% of all independent businesses in the United States.)

Thus it is that small business has become a hot topic in the debate over how best to stimulate economic recovery. One of the big criticisms of the Obama Administration's healthcare reform bill, for instance, was that it would discourage small firms from taking on new employees because of more burdensome requirements for employer-sponsored health insurance.

Job-seekers can take heart, then, at the following statistic, from a Reuters report in the Chicago Tribune: In November, small businesses expanded their payrolls by an average 0.01 worker per firm. That represents an improvement over October, when small-business payrolls remained flat, and is also the first increase in average small-firm payrolls in two-and-a-half years.

But how did we get to that one-hundredth of a worker figure? This way: 14% of businesses surveyed expanded their payrolls by an average of 3.4 workers, but 16% cut theirs by an average 3.2 positions.

Small though it is, it's still a gain, though, and yet another reason to keep plugging away at your job search.

Looking for a whole job? Start your search at PhillyJobs.com.

By Sandy Smith

Sandy Smith is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his career in public relations and corporate communications. His work has appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia CityPaper, PGN, and a number of Web sites. Philly-area residents may also recognize him as "MarketStEl" of discussion-board fame. He has been a part of the great reserve army of freelance writers since January 2009 and is actively seeking opportunities wherever they may lie.