TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A local firm has taken a look at "economic momentum" in the Capital City for more than five years.
The newest data from the Tallahassee Economic Index indicates the local economy isn't growing as fast as it has been in recent months.
That's not to say the city isn't seeing growth at all.
It's that the rate is slowing down, which means drops on the Index.
First Franklin Financial Services powers the Index. It uses data from 15 categories. They include building permits, advertising, and average home sales prices.
Lance Mitchell, Research Director at Tallahassee Economic Index, said there were a few categories that did well, but several took a hit, like new construction permits.
"There could be a lot of different reasons for that, but either way, when you build a house, there's jobs created," said Mitchell. "There's banking, mortgages that have to be done, which is transactions and it just helps spur on the economy. So, if you see that going down, that's a bad sign for the future."
To get a different perspective, we also asked the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce about where the local economy is going.
Vice President Jay Revell said the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the Tallahassee metro area was up 4,700 jobs in the past year.
He said the growth in 2018 should continue.
"We're very bullish on 2019, and we continue to see a great deal of projects that are coming on line," said Revell. "We see new grounds being broken on a variety of things across varied industries, and I think the future is very bright for the economy here."
Revell said sometimes, you can't predict how an economy will react to situations like the recent government shutdown.
But it's likely Tallahassee will see some sort of effect, just like the rest of the nation.
Back to the Tallahassee Economic Index, the group puts out reports every month.
Those bright spots we mentioned earlier include airport traffic, initial unemployment claims, and median sales prices for homes.
