From the Business first of Buffalo
America's 10 hottest labor markets
"1. Phoenix: America's hottest labor market is located -- appropriately enough -- in the desert. Phoenix has tacked on 325,100 jobs since 2002, the equivalent of 1,250 per week. Washington's weekly average of 940 is a distant second. Phoenix's jobless rate, 3.0 percent, is the nation's fourth-lowest.
2. Salt Lake City: Salt Lake City has gathered serious momentum the past two years. Its employment base has ballooned by 11.3 percent since 2005, the nation's fastest pace over that period. Also impressive is the local unemployment rate of 2.8 percent, the second-smallest across all of America.
3. Boise, Idaho: If Salt Lake City has America's second-lowest jobless rate, who is better? The answer is Boise at 2.1 percent. This burgeoning high-tech center also boasts a job-growth rate of 11.0 percent since 2005, second-best in the nation. And who is No. 1 in that category? Salt Lake City, of course.
4. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.: Los Angeles does reasonably well in these rankings, 41st out of 100 markets, yet it's far behind its own eastern suburbs. Riverside-San Bernardino, also known as the Inland Empire, is adding 890 jobs per week. That's America's third-fastest pace, trailing only Phoenix and Washington."
