PHILADELPHIA—Led by the professional and business services sector and the burgeoning medical community, Philadelphia added nearly 62,000 positions in the last 12 months ending in the second quarter, according to research conducted by Marcus & Millichap.

The commercial real estate services firm says hiring in these typically well-paying employment sectors facilitated a lift to the metro's median household income, which rose faster than the national average in the second quarter to more than $67,500 annually and boosted annualized retail sales.

The hiring “will bode well for retail spending, further intensifying tenant demand,” Marcus & Millichap says in its Philadelphia Metro Market Retail Research Report. “Rising demand for space has prompted builders to move forward with a number of projects, including several in suburban locations, that are slated for delivery in 2016. While the majority of these developments are smaller in scale, a number of projects with more than 100,000 square feet are underway with completion scheduled next year. With minimal large-scale deliveries lined up for this year and strong absorption, vacancy will fall below 6 percent, encouraging the average asking rent to rise to an eight-year high.”