Team NEO Projects Economic Growth For Northeast Ohio In 2021

A new report from Team NEO is projecting employment growth and post-pandemic recovery in gross domestic product in Northeast Ohio this year, though such growth will depend on more people being able to participate equally in the labor market.

The report projects local employment will grow 1.7 percent in 2021. Although better than previously assumed, Team NEO Vice President for Strategy and Research Jacob Duritsky said he doesn’t expect employment to fully recover until after 2025. And diversity, equity and inclusion will be essential in the recovery, he said.

“If we don’t have a more inclusive strategy to address that here in the region, those numbers are going to lag, so it’s just a key component of it," Duritsky said.

Between workforce development, state economic development and companies ready to help, the infrastructure is in place to focus on diversity in the workforce, he said.

“One, it’s going to be a diversity, equity and inclusion strategy that is more holistic and more encompassing of everyone in the region," he said. "But two, it’s going to be thinking about what the pandemic is going to do to labor markets, how it’s going to accelerate the need for talented workers, and how we think about aligning those workers with the opportunities in the economy today.”

The report also projects job growth in almost every sector of the local economy.

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