January 2018 Press Release

Local Economy Slows It’s Roll in First Month of 2018 Business and Consumer Spending Lead the Decline to Start the Year

Tallahassee, FL – The Tallahassee Economic Index (TEI), the city’s top economic growth indicator, today released numbers ending January 2018. After a 1.71 point climb in December, the Index lost 1.88 points from 52.17 to 50.29 in January.

“It was a small move, but a move down nonetheless. Business and consumer spending indicators were the most prominent laggards, showing multiple double-digit declines on a seasonally adjusted basis, ” said TEI Founder Brett F. Ewing. “While we did lose some steam this month, we were buoyed by some reliable inputs that have shown unrelenting momentum. One example is lumber sales in Leon County. This input has seen seasonally adjusted growth in 20 of the last 24 months. In January alone it saw 21 percent growth from December and more than 27 percent growth when compared to January of 2017.

“The beginning of a new year and the start of new tax policy did not yet bring the desired outcome of economic growth in the capital city,” said Lance Mitchell, Director of Research at the TEI.“Although the drop was minimal, the weakness was widespread across categories. If you didn’t have anything to do with real estate or planes then January wasn’t a great month. As we go forward we will continue to monitor whether spending can accelerate as workers checks increase and whether initial claims can stop its four-month upward trend.;

• Median Existing Home Sales Prices fell 8.89 percent from December, but climbed 2.53 percent from last January
• Airport Traffic lost 8.62 percent from last month, but rose 10.36 percent from January last year
• New Construction Permits rocketed 55.56 percent higher from December and 9.38 percent from last January
• Initial Claims for Reemployment Assistance moved up for the fourth month in a row by .83 percent from December, however January 2018 was 10.36 percent lower than January 2017
• Realtor Sales plummeted 21.15 percent from December, and dipped by 1.73 percent year-over-year