February 2018 Press Release

Tallahassee Economic Index has Another Month of Slower Growth Small Pockets of Strength Couldn’t Stop the Slow Slide

Tallahassee, FL – The Tallahassee Economic Index (TEI), the city’s top economic growth indicator, today released numbers ending February 2018. After a 1.88 point drop in January, the Index lost 2.08 points from 50.29 to 48.21 in February.

“The Index had another small drop in February. Local consumer categories have slowed in the first two months of 2018, stalling the index just enough to give us some lack luster readings. Instead of buying shoes and frequenting local bars, people are buying plane tickets and homes. ” said TEI Founder Brett F. Ewing. “While the index did drop, that does not mean the economy is weak; it means that it is simply growing slower than it has in the past. We have still seen some really strong numbers in important categories in the past few months despite the overall index moves.

“The month in which consumers saw their paychecks rise from a benefit of the tax bill did not bring accelerated growth to the capital city,” said Lance Mitchell, Director of Research at the TEI.“On the downside, business spending snapped its multi-month win streak and the leading areas of real estate had a surprisingly weak month. On the bright side, we did snap a four-month uptrend in Initial Claims for Reemployment Assistance, signaling employment is still on solid footing.;

• Initial Claims for Reemployment Assistance dropped by 23.14 percent from January, but were still 5.28 percent higher than February of last year
• Realtor Sales caught a bid in February, beating last month by 22.91 percent and last February by 14.6 percent
• Median Existing Home Sales Prices gained 7.32 percent from January, and jumped 15.79 percent from last February
• Airport Traffic grew 4.93 percent from last month, and 10.36 percent from February of last year
• New Construction Permits plummeted 50 percent higher from January and 12.50 percent from last February