No Job Gains in Inner Cities

Many of America's inner cities continue to hemorrhage jobs despite years of federal programs designed to improve their economies. Nearly half of the country's 82 largest municipalities lost jobs from 1995 to 2003, according to a new Harvard University study. By comparison, only one of the surrounding metropolitan areas lost jobs during the same period.

"It's sobering," said Michael Porter, a Harvard business professor who did the study for the university's Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. "It suggests that there are relatively few inner cities that are thriving in the sense of job growth."

Porter and his team analyzed how many jobs were added or lost in inner cities with more than 50,000 residents. They found that only 10 added jobs at a higher rate than surrounding metropolitan areas. All 40 inner cities that lost jobs did so faster than surrounding areas.

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