Meeting in Philadelphia at their Summer leadership meeting July 18-20, the nation's mayors said they continue to see steady progress in the economic growth of U.S. metro economies from the Great Recession, even though they would prefer a quicker pace to the recovery.

According to a report released by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and prepared by IHS Global, over 300 metro economies are expected to see real (inflation adjusted) growth in economic output by the end of 2012, up from the 267 experiencing growth in 2011.

Overall in 2012, 50 metros will achieve real gross metropolitan growth (GMP) growth rates of three percent or more, led by Austin and Houston among the largest. More than 110 metros will see growth of two percent or better, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver and Boston, while over 220 metros will increase their GMP by one percent or higher.

“This report clearly shows that economic recovery is improving slowly, but surely. It's yet another indication that the nation's mayors stepped up to the plate when Congress would not. If Congress would stop the bickering, we could realize even greater growth and prove this report wrong,” said Conference of Mayors President Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter.

The report, “U.S. Metro Economies: Gross Metropolitan Product, and the Critical Role of Transportation Infrastructure,” also projected that the nation's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be two percent by the end of year and employment growth would reach 1.4 percent. It predicted that household budgets would receive a boost from expected declines in gas prices to $3.11/gallon by the Fall.

The mayors continued to make the point that the nation's cities are key to the nation's economic prosperity, citing updated numbers that the 363 U.S. metro economies now account for 90.7 percent of GDP; 89.9 percent of wage and salary income; and 85.8 percent of all jobs. “When you look at these facts, you see that the cities are the American economy,” said Nutter.

Need for Infrastructure Investment

Yet the mayors are faced with sobering statistics that show the U.S. is slipping in its international rankings on infrastructure and competitiveness. They cited a recent World Economic Forum report ranking the U.S. 24th in the quality of overall infrastructure, just above Taiwan and behind many European and Asian nations. That same report said that the U.S. had slipped from second place in global economic competitiveness to fifth place over the last two years.

They also pointed to a recent Congressional Budget Office report showing that the U.S. spends only 2.4 percent of its GDP on transportation and water infrastructure, compared to five percent in Europe and nine percent in China.

“We need to hear from the Presidential candidates about their plan to make America competitive and increase our market share in the global economy,” said Conference of Mayors Vice President Mesa (AZ) Mayor Scott Smith.

To bolster their case for more infrastructure funding, the mayors pointed to the report's findings that U.S. metro economies will see a 32 percent increase in population over the next 30 years, absorbing an additional 84 million people. Already, under current transportation systems, U.S. metro economies lose over $101 billion per year because of congestion, costing the average consumer $713 annually.

The mayors said the costs of congestion could double over the next decade unless the nation commits itself to long-term infrastructure investments focused on congestion mitigation and a national freight policy.

In addition to the dramatic increase in people and commuters, the report projected that the nation's exports and imports will see dramatic growth over the coming decade, expanding from $4.12 trillion in 2012 to $6.04 trillion in 2020 as international trade becomes an even larger part of the economy. With the proper infrastructure investment, the nation could become a net exporter by 2020, according to the report's authors.

Given these projections, Smith said, “A status quo approach to funding is not the answer. In this era of tight budgets in both Washington and our cities, we must make smart, strategic investments that further our goals to increase economic growth and job creation.”

Over the next 30 years, 92 percent of the nation's employment and population growth will occur in U.S. metro areas, and 94 percent of the nation's economic growth.

The entire report may be found online at usmayors.org.

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