With Thanksgiving coming up this week, it’s the season for taking stock.
And, fortunately, there are several reasons to be thankful for the direction the local economy has taken in the past year.
The Great Recession landed hard in the multi-county South Bend region. Recovery didn’t come quickly, either.
The improving economy seemed to hit a steadier pace this year, though, and some key indicators show why businesses are feeling more comfortable.
• St. Joseph County has added more than 5,500 jobs in the past two years.
• The county’s unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in September. That’s the county’s lowest September jobless rate since 2000.
• Construction bounced back this year, too. Permits for almost $465 million worth of building projects were granted from January through October of this year in the county, compared with about $157 million during same 10-month period in 2014.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said the region’s economy “is on a roll” during a panel discussion last week at a St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
“What we see is not just the return of jobs to our community,” Buttigieg said, “but also the emergence of a lot of new kinds of jobs and new kinds of companies that are helping us have a more-diversified texture in terms of our economy.”