1st Quarter Key Economic Indicators for Tampa Bay Market Show Signs of Growth

Here is the Florida Communication Group Research Department’s Key Economic Indicators report for the Tampa Bay market in first quarter 2010. We are definitely seeing some nice indicators of improvement across the board. Home sales, automotive sales and retail sales are showing growth, while the Tampa Bay unemployement rate is down slightly from the highs of the last two months.  

Unemployment

Unemployment rates continue to be high in the Tampa Bay market – ending the first quarter with a 12.7% rate. However, that 12.7% is down about 1/2 a percentage point from highs of 13.2% seen in January and February of this year.  

 

Home Sales

Total home sales are on the rise, up by 18.5% in Hillsborough County  

Number of Homes Sold in Hillsborough County

   

			+/-
	2009	2008	Percent
Total	13,218	10,350	27.7%
			+/-
	2010	2009	Percent
January	732	634	15.5%
February	986	796	23.9%
March	1,164	1,002	16.2%
TOTAL	2,882	2,432	18.5%

  

Automotive Sales

New auto sales showed positive signs of improvement and were up by 6.5% in the Tampa DMA.  

Retail Sales

Taxable retail sales were down for the 1st quarter by 2.6% in the Tampa Bay DMA and by 4.5% in Hillsborough County. However, one positive trend was retail sales for March 2010 which showed a slight increase of 1.7% in both the Tampa DMA and in Hillsborough County – the first monthly increase in more than two years.

	2009	2008	Percent
Total	$52,385,510,832	$57,089,811,449	-8.2%
			+/-
	2010	2009	Percent
January	$4,129,990,782	$4,402,271,107	-6.2%
February	$4,300,583,801	$4,463,249,748	-3.6%
March	$4,953,261,663	$4,869,197,677	1.7%
TOTAL	$13,383,836,246	$13,734,718,532	-2.6%

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