Third Quarterly Economic Update

OEV will release its third Quarterly Economic Update on Monday, July 10. Read on for a few of the key points to expect from this report.

The Tallahassee-Leon County economy has continued on an expansionary path into 2017. As of May 2017, employment growth in the Tallahassee MSA has increased by 4.4% over May 2016 levels, following annual employment gains of 2.1% in 2016.
Our local economy saw a return to pre-recessionary employment levels in 2016 as all the jobs lost during the recession were recovered and is now 4,000 jobs higher than the pre-recessionary employment peak.

The MSA unemployment rate of 3.7% (May 2017) is the lowest since the recession as well (early 2008). Declining unemployment rates have created slow and irregular wage growth in our area which is consistent with State and National trends.

For the first five months of the 2017 calendar year, Leon County single-family construction permits are running 13.0% over the same period in 2016. Despite strong growth rates over the last four calendar years, the level of new single-family construction is still low by historic standards – just less than half of the long-run per capita level. After increasing 5.9 percent in 2016, home sale prices in the Tallahassee MSA have increased 7.6% year-over-year on average over the first five months of 2017.

In addition, data recently released by the Florida Chamber of Commerce ranks the Tallahassee MSA as 9th in the state for job diversification, and Florida received a national ranking of 24th. Metrics also noted an increase in Leon County housing permits, higher sales tax revenue, and improvements in high school graduation and poverty rates.

Get the most current stats by signing up for the next Quarterly Economic Report or by visiting the OEV Data Center, and learn more about the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s state and county scorecard here.