Greater Des Moines has been in the national spotlight lately.
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• Des Moines made CareerBuilder.com’s list of “25 Best Places to Find a Job,” based on the unemployment rate and job growth in July 2008. It ranked 19th, with a 3.5 percent unemployment rate and 1.2 percent job growth. Ames ranked 11th, with an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent and no information on job growth, while Iowa City ranked 14th, with an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent and 0.7 percent job growth. The article came out on Sept. 29.
• An Oct. 20 SmartMoney article featured Des Moines as one of 25 metropolitan areas that still had promising housing markets. The article cited Iowa’s diverse economy and young people entering the housing market as pluses, and specifically mentioned West Des Moines as a strong market. “Though it’s undergone a slight slowdown this year, Des Moines’ real estate market never crashed, in part because it didn’t experience much of a run-up,” the article said.