Competition is nothing new between Milwaukee and Chicago, and a recent report shows Milwaukee County is pulling ahead on the employment front.

According to Scott Brave, senior business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Milwaukee area — specifically Milwaukee, Waukesha, and West Allis — has seen one of the highest rates of job growth in the nation over the past year. This conclusion is based on the findings of both the monthly Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary and the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment monthly reports, released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Compared to the Chicago area — specifically Chicago, Joliet and Naperville — Milwaukee has seen a much larger increase in employment during the recovery period of the 2008 economic recession, according to Brave.

Brave said the monthly reports have shown that employment levels in the two areas have stayed roughly parallel over the past two decades, but that trend is changing.

“(This trend) is as one might expect for two cities that are so close geographically, but the correlation has recently faltered,” he said.

The phenomenon is evidenced by the most recent release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report for August 2010 to September 2011. The report shows the Chicago area maintained a near 10 percent unemployment rate for the year, while Milwaukee County maintained a near 8 percent unemployment rate for the same time period.

Abdur Chowdhury, professor and chair of economics at Marquette, said the slight increase in job growth in Milwaukee County is not derived from large companies like those populating the area of Chicago.

“What has helped Milwaukee County to attract jobs, compared to, say, Chicago, is the growth of small businesses,” he said. “We have seen small businesses grow in the outskirts of the city of Milwaukee, which has created jobs.”

Chowdhury said many factors affect employment more positively in some areas than others, such as infrastructure, ease of traveling to and from jobs and weather.

Brave said the industries of manufacturing, education and healthcare have been such factors in the economies of the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.

“The biggest differences were in durable goods manufacturing, education and healthcare, where Milwaukee had the higher concentration (of jobs), and professional and business services and government, where Chicago had a higher concentration,” he said.

In order for this trend to continue in Milwaukee County, Chowdhury said consumer demand must increase and uncertainty in the local economy must decrease. Job creation relies on product demand, as this allows firms to expand and hire more workers.

Brave said the budding economy of Milwaukee is also dependent on the Midwest economic sector, made up of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.

“As long as this sector continues to recover — and it still has some way to go to get back to the level of activity before the recent recession — Milwaukee’s labor market is likely to benefit,” Brave said.