Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)

DVRPC received a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to conduct the required five year CEDS update in 2022. Staff initiated the planning process in fall of 2022. Below is a draft of the background demographics, regional assessment, and trends analysis. Staff will be soliciting regional economic development projects for inclusion in the strategy in Spring 2024. The Goals and Strategies and Action Plan will be completed by September 2024.

Chapter 1: People, Place, & Prosperity: Data Analyses, Regional Assessment, and Economic Trends (PPS)

2019 Growing Greater Philadelphia

Adopted in 2019, Growing Greater Philadelphia, the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is the region's current strategy-driven framework to increase economic productivity, diversify local wealth, improve the culture for underrepresented businesses, and increase individual prosperity for the region's residents. This CEDS covers a nine-county region—Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer in New Jersey. The CEDS was developed through guidance and support of the Economic Development Committee made up of public-and private-sector representatives.


Measuring Economic Performance: CEDS Indicators

Disclaimer: charts and figures updated daily

Over-the-Year Inflation Rate

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics


Unemployment Rate

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics


New Housing Units Authorized by Month

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Note: a huge influx of permits in Philadelphia prior to the 10-year Tax Abatement changing led to an outlier in new housing units authorized for December 2021

At-Place Employment by Industry Group,

Philadelphia MSA Trenton MSA

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Not Seasonally Adjusted


One-Year Employment Change by Industry Group,

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Not Seasonally Adjusted


Two-Year Employment Change by Industry Group,

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Geographies

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): An MSA is an area with at least one urban core and 50,000 total inhabitants. Each MSA is made up of one or more counties. The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington MSA (Philadelphia MSA) is comprised of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland. The Trenton-Princeton MSA is comprised of Mercer County in New Jersey.

Use of MSA instead of counties in region: depending on the data source and its variables, some data is not available at the county level. When this is the case, we use the MSA-level data as a proxy for the DVRPC region. Additionally, since the Trenton-Princeton MSA is relatively small, there are times where data is not available for this geography, and in those cases we only show the Philadelphia MSA data.

Terms

Over-the-year: change from one year to the other. For example, the change in industry employment from October 2020 to October 2021.

New Housing Units Authorized: these are development projects that have received permits but have not yet been built.