While Steiner Ranch has much to offer to its residents, including a number of wonderful amenities and beautiful homes, the location of the community is one of its biggest draws. Thanks to the community’s proximity to the capital city of Austin, residents enjoy easy access to a wide variety of dining and shopping opportunities as well as a number of attractions such as museums and live venues. Still, it is the employment opportunities that Austin has to offer that serve as the main draw for those who consider purchasing a home in the Steiner Ranch.
Unfortunately, just as with the rest of the country, the job market in Austin was affected by the country’s recent economic troubles. On the other hand, Austin hasn’t been affected as harshly as many of the other cities and metro areas around the country. In fact, according to data recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Austin was one of only 14 markets to experience just a relatively mild decline in employment when comparing the unemployment rates from February 2009 to February of this year.
In order to be considered one of the areas in the country to have experienced a “relatively low” decline in employment, the area had to experience a decline of less than 2%. With Austin experiencing a 1% decline, the area posted the fourth smallest decline within the nation’s top 100 markets. Overall, the area reported 5,900 fewer private-sector jobs in February 2010 than it posted in February 2009.
The 14 areas to have a loss of less than 2% include
· Augusta, Georgia – a drop of 0.36%
· McAllen-Edinburg, Texas – a drop of 0.92%
· New Orleans, Louisiana – a drop of 0.96%
· Austin, Texas – a drop of 1.00%
· Charleston, South Carolina – a drop of 1.02%
· Columbia, South Carolina – a drop of 1.16%
· New Haven, Connecticut – a drop of 1.33%
· Buffalo, New York – a drop of 1.51%
· Washington – a drop of 1.58%
· Honolulu, Hawaii – a drop of 1.69%
· Baton Rouge, Louisiana – a drop of 1.71%
· Virginia Beach-Norfolk – a drop of 1.80%
· Syracuse, New York – a drop of 1.91%
· Poughkeepsie, New York – a drop of 1.97%
On the other end of the spectrum, Wichita, Kansas came in at the bottom of the list with a loss of 16,700 jobs, which amounted to a 6.49% drop in the area’s unemployment rate. Akron, Ohio; Las Vegas, Nevada; Riverside-San Bernardino, California; and Birmingham, Alabama round out the bottom five.