Thanks to a booming services sector, Florida has become home to seven of the top 20 US metropolitan areas measured on their ability to create and retain jobs, according to a report released on Wednesday. The "Best Performing Cities" report by the Santa Monica, California-based Milken Institute ranked Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Florida, as the top US metro area for job growth, noting its low dependence on factory jobs has helped insulate it from the manufacturing sector's downturn in recent years.
Additionally, the area boasts low housing and business costs and is becoming a popular retirement community, which is increasing demand for new local services, said Ross DeVol, an economist with the Milken Institute.
"A lot of job creation in Florida is from new businesses," said DeVol. "If you're not high in terms of business start-ups, it's going to be very difficult to match other areas of the country with high entrepreneurial activity."
Other Florida metropolitan areas joining the Fort Myers-Cape Coral region on the think tank's top 20 list were West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Daytona Beach, Sarasota-Bradenton, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Naples.
An influx of retirees over the past five years has spurred entrepreneurs and hiring in the top six metropolitan areas on the Milken Institute's list, DeVol noted.