When we examine the unemployment rate and total labor force for the target market of Kent county, Michigan over a period of almost two decades from January 1998 to May 2016, the following items stand out:

The total labor force for Kent county was 313,723 people in January of 1998 and by May of 2016 it has increased to 353,713 people. This is an increase of 12.74% over 18 years. We saw the labor force get close to $335,000 by the year 2000 and then fall all the way down to around 305,000 people in 2003. It picked up again between 2003 and 2006 only to fall back down to approximately 305,000 people between 2009 and 2012. However from January of 2011, we have actually seen a steady growth in the number of folks employed all the way to the current number of 353,713 - an increase of 13.95% in just 5 1/2 years.

The unemployment rate for Kent county was 3.3% in January of 1998 and in May of 2016 we find that the unemployment rate was right back to 3.1%. During this 18 year period the lowest unemployment rate that was recorded was 2.1% and the highest was 12.6%. The average unemployment rate during this 18 year period was 6%. The unemployment rate was below 4% until 2001 - however in the recession that followed the dot com bubble, the unemployment rate shot up to over 8% in 2004. It nudged back down into the 6% range between 2004 and 2009 only to skyrocket up to 12.6% during the great recession of 2008 -2010. Finally after reaching that height, the unemployment rate started dropping back down steadily all the way to 3.1%.

What is interesting to note is that there has been a corresponding increase in the total labor force as well as a drop in the unemployment rate in Kent county from January 2011 all the way to May 2016. This is excellent since it is reflective of economic vitality and stability.

The takeaway for James and Carmine is that the target market of Kent county does have a steadily growing labor force which bodes well for their business - more folks working indicates a greater demand for housing and roofing contracting services offered by Dependable Roofing. On the other hand wide changes in the unemployment rate can be indicative of a sensitive local economy and both James and Carmine would be wise to make sure that they run their business and accounts receivables in a disciplined manner to ensure that they have little debt and get paid on their jobs quickly and consistently.

Quick Links:

1. Go to the Corresponding Template section for this industry.
2. Go to the Corresponding Questionnaire section for this industry.