June 2018 Press Release

Capital City’s Economy Shows Signs of Life in June Key Inputs Help this Month’s Reading Go Positive

Tallahassee, FL – The Tallahassee Economic Index (TEI), the city’s top economic growth indicator, today released numbers ending June 2018. Following a 4.21 point fall in May, the Index regained 1.06 points from 38.52 to 39.52 in June.

“The June numbers are in, and the Index has moved up, slightly. While growth has slowed so far this year, June saw a slight turn around. Initial claims for reemployment assistance saw a double digit yearly and monthly move in the right direction. Lumber sales also helped boost the Index by having another month of double digit seasonally adjusted growth,” said TEI Founder Brett F. Ewing. “ Another input we like to mention is airport traffic – June marks the ninth month in a row of year-over-year growth. This is the longest streak of growth since the airport went international in June of 2015.”

“Finally—and for the first time all year—we can say that we had an acceleration in growth in the capital city,” said Lance Mitchell, Director of Research at the TEI.“While housing numbers seem to have slowed down, with all three of our categories negative year-over-year, consumers seem to be shopping again. Sales on smaller ticket items like shoes, apparel and accessories, and home furniture and furnishings all increased on a monthly and yearly basis. While consumers may have moved down the chain to less expensive purchases, the growth definitely shows a newfound attitude to spend some of their disposable income from the new tax plan.

• New Construction Permits grew 38.46 percent from May, but dropped 23.40 percent from last June
• Lumber Sales dipped 2.77 percent MoM, and gained 13.34 percent YoY
• Initial Claims for Reemployment Assistance fell by 21 percent MoM, and 13.93 percent YoY
• Realtor Sales advanced 3.13 percent from May, but slid .3 percent from a year ago
• Median Existing Home Sales Prices gained 3.9 percent MoM, but lost 1.84 percent YoY
• Airport Traffic gave back 4.35 percent from last month, but increased YoY again, by 11.87 percent from May of last year