Answer No. 2: The Continuing Loss of Jobs

To begin with, Ed Rendell was right.

When he was mayor, he placed a major bet on convention and tourism as a way to produce jobs for the city.  The bet paid off, there are now more people employed today in that job sector than at any time in the city's history.

The city's most robust creator of jobs is the "Eds and Meds" sector, employment in the region's colleges and hospitals has risen nearly 19 percent since 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles this data.

Those are the two wins.  Now for the eight losses.

Employment has declined, sometimes significantly, in the other job categories catalogued by BLS.  Some of it is cyclical -- the number professional and business services jobs may rebound when (if?) the recession lifts.  Some of the decline is permanent: manufacturing, to use one example.

Overall, the city has lost 31,000 jobs since 2000.  That translates into roughly $1.3 billion in lost wages; money that normally would radiate out into the economy. The two growth areas simply could not generate enough new jobs to make up for the losses in other sectors.

Philadelphia saw its population grow slightly over the last decade, but if the number of jobs keep declining, the city is in trouble.  If the jobless rate is the symptom, the broad decline in jobs is the disease.