December 2017 Press Release

Tallahassee Economy Finishes the Year Higher Business Spending, Real Estate, Employment Lead the Way into 2018

Tallahassee, FL – The Tallahassee Economic Index (TEI), the city’s top economic growth indicator, today released numbers ending December 2017. After a 2.23 point slide in November, the Index grinded 1.71 points higher from 50.46 to 52.17 in December.

“As December’s numbers rolled in we saw the index make a slight move up from November. Overall it finished the year higher by 3.58 points,” said TEI Founder Brett F. Ewing. “One of our favorite business spending indicators, store and office supplies, was up from November by 4.98 percent and higher than last December by 6.22 percent. In fact, 2017 was the first year in the last five which showed growth for this category.

Another one to watch is airport traffic. Since the transition into an international airport in June of 2015, we have seen the yearly number start to take off. 2016 and 2017 both saw increases in annual passenger volume by 21,137 and 17,614 respectively.

“The TEI printed a positive number to close out a year of relatively flat growth. Real estate categories led the charge all year and December was no different as new construction permits, single family sales price and lumber all performed well,” said Lance Mitchell, Director of Research at the TEI. “One of the largest weighting categories in the index, initial claims for reemployment assistance, did not fare as well in December, despite being a stalwart for most of 2017. This increase is something we will monitor closely in 2018”

• Median Existing Home Sales Prices advanced 7.14 percent from November and 5.88 percent from last December
• Airport Traffic fell 11.06 percent from last month but climbed 8.68 percent from December last year
• New Construction Permits gained 4.65 percent from November and 40.63 percent from last December
• Initial Claims for Reemployment Assistance moved up 13.56 percent in December and were 6.51 percent higher than one year ago
• Realtor Sales dropped by 1.73 percent month-over-month and 9.9 percent year-over-year