Austin’s progress since the recession is higher than any other U.S. metropolitan city, according to a Brookings Institution report released Tuesday.

“Global MetroMonitor: The Path to Economic Recovery,” named Austin the 26th highest ranking city in the globe and first in the U.S., with a 3.2 percent post-recession increase in employment and a 2.7 percent increase in income for the city’s residents from 2009 to 2010.

The global economic downturn of the late 2000s reached such a magnitude that it is now known as the “Great Recession,” according to the report.

“Because metros form the fundamental bases for national and international economies, understanding their relative positioning before, during and after the Great Recession provides important evidence on emerging shifts in the location of global economic resilience and future growth,” the report said.

The report analyzed the economies of 150 metro cities worldwide during their respective pre-recession, recession and recovery periods from 1993 to 2010.

The 150 cities ranked are “locations for high-value economic activity” that “punch above their weight in national and global economic output,” according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Istanbul, Turkey, ranked first in recovery, while Asia topped the list, home to 15 of the top 25 cities.

The economic analysis of these cities stressed the importance of metropolitan areas around the globe, including Austin, and their influence on the worldwide economy.