Kansas City Annual Report from Cushman Wakefield

2019 was a year where substantial headwinds negatively impacted economic growth and a series of international events threatened to bring what has become the longest economic expansion in history to an end. Yet despite these challenges, Gross Domestic Product continued to grow at more than 2.0% on an annual basis and stock market indices set record highs. For the majority of this expansion the growth rate has been subdued, but it is hard to complain about more than a decade of steady improvement. 

One factor that has been impossible to ignore is the employment situation. Low unemployment has historically been an indication of a strengthening economy, and after seeing the Kansas City unemployment rate climb as high as 9.2% and the national unemployment rate reach double figures during the recession it is a great relief to look at the current numbers. However, there are also trends in the employment market that are concerning. The non-seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was only 3.4% in December, while the Kansas City rate rose back to 3.1% after being at 2.8% or below in each of the previous three months. 

There are now legitimate concerns that a lack of available labor is slowing the rate of economic expansion. The summer of 2019 saw a series of headlines pointing to the number of available jobs nationwide being 1.5 million higher than the number of unemployed workers. In commercial real estate,