��s worst economic performers,
with the city’s economy earning a ranking of 189 among 200 global cities, down
from a ranking of 89 during the 1990s, when the city realized 1.6% income
growth and 2.6% employment growth. However, even when the 2008-2009 period is
excluded, the 2001-2007 period is still one of the worst on record for Atlanta:
the city never recovered the jobs it lost during the Early 2000s recession, and
per capita income declined nearly 5% from 2000 to 2006, the largest decline
among major U.S. cities. Thus, Atlanta’s current economic crisis was only
worsened, and not caused, by the Recession. Adding to the city’s employment and
income woes is the spectacular collapse of its housing market. Atlanta home
prices fell by 2.1% in January 2012, reaching levels not seen since 1996, a
decline that measured among the worst in the country. Compared with a year
earlier, the average home price in Atlanta fell 17.3% in February 2012, the
largest annual drop in the history of the index for any city. Atlanta home
values average $85,000 as of January 2012, second-worst among major
metropolitan areas, coming in just behind Detroit. This unprecedented collapse
in home prices has led some economists to deem Atlanta the worst housing market
in the country
