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Kansas City, MO-KS

Kansas City, MO-KS

Overall rank: 29

Kansas City, the largest city in Missouri, is home to such large corporations as H&R Block, Russell Stover, Hallmark Cards, and AMC Theatres. It has seen its unemployment rate climb to 8.4% as once-strong industries, including construction, adapt to the new economic reality. Budget problems were so severe this year that the community known as the "City of Fountains" considered allowing many of them to run dry. Employment in the Kansas City metro peaked in the third quarter of last year. Gross metropolitan product in the second quarter was down 5.9% from the peak in the fourth quarter of 2007. Home prices grew 1% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 8.7%, up 2.8 points from a year earlier. (Please see below for the various criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.)

Job growth (since peak) rank: 18
Gross Metro Product (since peak) rank: 78
Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 21
Home price change (year over year) rank: 35