MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new report says the economy in the Memphis area grew at a faster pace than the U.S. economy last year.
The Greater Memphis Chamber’s Center for Economic Competitiveness (CFEC) released the report Wednesday.
It said Memphis’ gross regional product grew by 6.2 % in 2021 to more than $4 billion. U.S. GDP growth for the U.S. for 2021 was 5.5% according to the CFEC.
The report said the area’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is in sharp contrast to the recession more than a decade ago. The CFEC said Memphis took ten years to recover jobs lost in the 2008 recession, but the city is currently only 1,000 jobs shy of reaching pre-pandemic numbers. The group said only Nashville has outpaced Memphis when it comes to recovering jobs.
Read the full report HERE.
“Greater Memphis is seeing a faster, V-shaped recovery largely because of the considerable economic momentum it had going into the pandemic,” said Apryl Childs-Potter, executive director of the Center for Economic Competitiveness and the Chamber’s chief marketing officer. “Moving forward, Memphis has an opportunity to recapture that momentum by going all-in on high-growth sectors like logistics technology and advanced manufacturing that are already leading our recovery.”
The Chamber said as part of its soon-to-be-released Vision 2030 plan, they have set a goal of adding 50,000 quality jobs in Memphis by 2030.