Tampa Bay Economic Indicators and Trends (First Six Months 2010)

Some highlights from the latest Tampa Bay Economic Indicators Report published by Florida Communications Group Research:

• Unemployment rates continue to be high in the Tampa Bay market – ending the second quarter with a 12.1% rate – higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.6%.

• Total home sales for the first six months of 2010 were up by 14.3% in Hillsborough County.

	2010	2009	Percent
January	887	832	6.6%
February	1,068	951	12.3%
March	1,385	1,211	14.4%
April	1,488	1,226	21.4%
May	1,462	1,267	15.4%
June	1,678	1,487	12.8%
Total	7,968	6,974	14.3%

• New auto sales showed positive signs of improvement and were up by 14.0% in the Tampa DMA and 14.1% in Hillsborough County.

	2010	2009	Percent
January	22,079	29,145	-24.2%
February	24,689	30,806	-19.9%
March	41,656	33,479	24.4%
April	30,074	31,483	-4.5%
May	29,730	27,430	8.4%
June	36,316	30,599	18.7%
TOTAL	184,544	182,942	0.9%

• Taxable retail sales – a major barometer in measuring consumer spending – were down 0.7% in the Tampa DMA and by 1.4% in Hillsborough County. However, one positive note was that retail sales from March through June were starting to level off, indicating that sales may finish the year flat compared to 2009.