After another month of job growth, the Philadelphia market has reached an important milestone: The metro area’s unemployment rate fell to 3.1 percent in May, the lowest level of unemployment recorded in Philadelphia since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began publishing the figure in 1990.
This CoStar Realty Information Inc. report involving Philadelphia commercial properties and employment is being made through Philadelphia commercial real estate broker Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.
For the Philadelphia commercial real estate market – including Philly office space, Philly retail space and Philly industrial space – current record-low unemployment represents both a blessing and a potential risk.
On the positive side, it reflects how the local economy and Philadelphia commercial real estate listings are clearly stronger than they were 10, 20, or even 30 years ago. The healthcare sector has powered this transformation, growing its employee count by 25 percent – or more than 100,000 local jobs – since the end of the last recession 10 years ago.
With available workers in short supply, competition for new job recruits across all industries operating out of Philadelphia commercial real estate properties is forcing companies to raise wages across industries and not just for the highest paid positions.
At least five local health systems have announced plans to raise their minimum wage since late 2018. The BLS also reported that average hourly wages across businesses contributing to the local commercial real estate market – including Philly office space, Philly retail space and Philly industrial space – sectors grew by 3.6 percent last year. Pay increases such as these have supported rent growth over 3 percent among Philadelphia’s workforce housing rentals.
But the lower Philadelphia’s unemployment rate goes, the harder it will become for local companies to find the employees they need, making it more difficult for businesses to grow and less likely that they will expand their real estate footprints.
At 1.2 percent year-over-year, Philadelphia’s pace of job growth has already slowed to about two-thirds of the pace recorded in 2014 to 2015, when available workers were easier for companies to find. In line with that trend, the pace at which local office tenants looking for Philadelphia commercial real estate listings are expanding their square footage has also slowed in the past three to four years.
Philadelphia’s tight labor market will likely persist into next year. Under this scenario, wage gains should continue to support accelerated rent growth in workforce housing rentals while slowing job gains keep a lid on office tenant expansions.
Office tenants in Philadelphia commercial real estate markets may not be growing aggressively, but they will likely continue to put increased emphasis on leasing high-end space to help recruit and retain employees, as it is becoming increasingly costly to lose them. – By Adrian Ponsen; CoStar Realty Information Inc.
For more information about Philly office space, Philly retail space, and Philly industrial space or other Philadelphia commercial properties, please call 215-799-6900 to speak with Jason Wolf (jason.wolf@wolfcre.com) at Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a leading Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that specializes in Philly office space, Philly retail space and Philly industrial space.
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