Brennan Barometer Survey Highlights Optimism of Scranton Businesses

According to the Kania School of Management's latest analysis of the Wyoming Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania, a resilient housing market and optimism for downtown Scranton businesses persist despite changing economic factors.

These findings are part of the August 2026 edition of the Brennan Barometer, published by Aram Balagyozyan, Ph.D., associate professor of economics, finance and international business, and Satyajit Ghosh, Ph.D., professor of economics, finance and international business. The newsletter provides a detailed analysis of the region's labor and housing markets, credit conditions and overall business environment, and strives to serve as a key academic resource to promote economic growth in the area.

Drs. Balagyozyan and Ghosh discussed key takeaways from the most recent Brennan Barometer during a September interview. The report includes a survey of 58 storefront businesses in downtown Scranton, conducted by Kania School honors students. Most of the vendors featured, primarily retail shops, bars and restaurants, and personal care salons, reported stable or improving sales as of April 2026.

Expectations for future business activity also reached their highest level in four years, despite increasing cost pressures.

"They see the area as an up-and-coming city," Dr. Balagyozyan said. "They all realize that Scranton is one of those places in the United States that is finding its way and revitalizing again, and so, looking forward, they're very optimistic that this trend will not fade away."

The better outlook comes despite increasing jobless rates in the region's big cities. According to data from the latest Brennan Barometer, while the overall unemployment rate of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) changed very little from June 2025 through May 2026, the rates of seasonally unadjusted unemployment over that time rose in Scranton (4.4% to 5.1%), Wilkes-Barre (5.1% to 6.2%) and Hazleton (6.1% to 7.5%).

Another focus of the August newsletter is the economic effects of Artificial Intelligence, including the development of hyperscale data centers. Northeastern Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the fastest growing data-center regions in the Eastern U.S., with 15 proposals filed for Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.

Any new hyperscale facility in Lackawanna or Luzerne County, once operational, would add about 160 additional jobs per year, a projection that falls short of estimates by project developers.

"The information sector does not provide too many jobs in this area. It doesn't," Dr. Ghosh said. "If you look at it, there has not been almost any ups and downs in the information sector employment in this area."

An examination of the region's housing market produced mixed results. Although home prices in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre MSA remain below state and national levels, signaling affordability for prospective homeowners, factors such as declining construction and tightening inventory warrant continued monitoring.

Overall, the region ranked 74th out of 300 metropolitan areas in May 2026, according to Realtor.com's Market Hotness Index, which measures supply and demand scores. It has risen to 37th as of this past August.

The report also found that consumer credit has continued to weaken in the area, with Luzerne and Lackawanna counties recording the sixth- and 11th-highest percentages of subprime borrowers, respectively, of the 67 in Pennsylvania.

The full edition of the Brennan Barometer is available on the University's website.