The Pittsburg, (KS) city commission received an update Tuesday night on the community's economic health. KRPS's Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.
Economics, large and small in the US, have been like a pinball game for the last three or four years.
Positive economic times pre-pandemic, followed by shutdowns and uncertainty, then state and local budgets flush with ARPA funding.
Director of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, Blake Benson, highlighted Tuesday that tax revenue in Pittsburg is up 25% over the past two years.
He also underscored the continued high employment rate in the community.
"15 months ago, we hit an all-time unemployment low in Pittsburg, in terms of the unemployment rate of 2.0%. Now even though it's back over 3%, that's still generally regarded as full employment, and you can see that it really hasn't fluctuated that much over the last year or so."
Benson also reported that the Pittsburg Chamber has seen a substantial rise in the average wage in Crawford county from 2021 to 2022, a 22.5% increase.
He contributed the salary growth to higher inflation, around 9% currently in Pittsburg. For 89 9 KRPS News, I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro
