Wage and salary employment in the Great Plains area increased by 90,400 jobs (1.4 percent) from February 1999 to February 2000, continuing the modest growth experienced during 1999. Kansas led the region with only a 1.6-percent growth rate, followed by Iowa (1.5 percent), Missouri (1.4 percent), and Nebraska (1.2 percent). The unemployment rate in the Great Plains dropped sharply in February 2000 to 3.0 percent from 3.6 percent 1 year earlier.

Columbia, Missouri, has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Nation, at 1 percent. Columbia is typical of many cities in Missouri, where the lack of affordable housing makes it difficult to attract qualified employees. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported recently that in Milan, a small community located in north central Missouri, a local meatpacking company provides housing for some of its employees but still must bus in workers from surrounding communities to meet its needs.

Single-family homebuilding permit activity in the Great Plains region was up 3 percent in 1999. During the first quarter of 2000, permits were issued for slightly more than 10,000 homes, a drop of 2 percent from the same period 1 year ago, with all States recording slightly lower levels of activity.

Although existing home sales in the St. Louis area declined by 5 percent during 1999 when compared with 1998, it was still a good year for sales. Single-family building permits in the St. Louis metropolitan area were up 2.4 percent for 1999. Median sales prices for 1999 were up significantly in Kansas City to $120,700 (up 5.9 percent) and Omaha to $109,400 (up 7.6 percent).

A new upscale single-family housing development of 106 homes is under way in the city of St. Louis. The 106-unit development will offer three- and four-bedroom houses priced from $150,000 to $260,000, which is some of the most expensive housing built in the city in recent years.

Spotlight on Lincoln, Nebraska

The Lincoln metropolitan area had an estimated population of 240,000 as of April 1, 2000. For the past decade, Lincoln has grown by almost 2,600 people annually, or 1.2 percent.

Nonagricultural employment in the Lincoln metropolitan area totaled 153,100 persons as of February 2000, a 3.2-percent increase from February 1999. The finance, insurance, and real estate sectors recorded the greatest rate of growth during the 12-month period, each up 10 percent; construction employment was second, with an 8-percent increase. The unemployment rate for February 2000 was 2.7 percent.

Lincoln is the State capital and the home to several major corporations and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, all of which contribute to a solid foundation for economic growth. The University of Nebraska's Technology Development Center is currently constructing the Nebraska Center for Excellence in Electronics within its 130-acre Technology Park.

A recently passed bond issue will enable Lincoln Public Schools to build two new high schools at a cost of $42 million each. With the new high schools, Lincoln's high school capacity is expected to be more than 9,000 students. In April 2000, the city of Lincoln, along with University of Nebraska and Lincoln Professional Baseball, broke ground on a $32-million baseball-softball complex. These facilities will be shared by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Lincoln Professional Baseball, which was recently awarded a Northern League franchise. The professional team, as yet unnamed, will begin play in Spring 2001. Another development project, the $80-million, 650,000-square-foot, Phase I, SouthPointe Pavilion retail mall is 99 percent leased, and Phase II is nearing completion.

For 1999, the average sales price of new homes in the Lincoln area was $167,000, while the average price for an existing home was $107,000. Existing home sales during the first quarter of 2000 totaled 537 homes at an average sales price of $103,500. For the same period, the average sales price for new single-family homes was $172,600, up more than 5 percent from the first quarter of 1999.

Multifamily housing building activity during 1998 and 1999 averaged approximately 800 units annually, compared with almost 1,400 units annually during 1996 and 1997. As a result of the large number of units entering the market in 1997 and 1998, the apartment vacancy rate increased to 8 percent, from 3 percent in 1996. With the strong demand for new units during the past year, the rate is expected to fall to about 4 percent by midyear.