Wells Fargo sees Pensacola as an expanding market as the Florida bounces back. Overall employment in the Sunshine State’s leisure and hospitality industry is up 5.8 percent over the past year, while taxable tourism sales across the state are up 8.0 percent over the same time period, according to report which was released today.
“The Fort Walton Beach-Destin area shows the largest year-over-year gain, with tourism sales up a whopping 23.1 percent from last June. Pensacola shows sales up 18.2 percent year-over-year and sales are up 17.8 percent year-over-year in Panama City,” reads the report.
Wells Fargo expects economic growth to hit 2.2 percent next year in Florida, despite growing anxiety that the nation is heading for a second recession. “The Florida Panhandle economy is slowly emerging from the negative shocks of the BP oil spill last year. Panama City and Fort Walton have reported positive employment numbers on the year, while Pensacola employment has only recently begun to turn upward.”
Wells Fargo sees employment in the Panhandle being driven by the military, tourism and healthcare. However, it does sight a “modest inflow” of hi-tech jobs to the region, using as an example Hixardt Technologies’ expansion (Project Press) which is still awaiting city council approval.
The report by Mark Vitner, Senior Economist, Michael A. Brown, and Joe Seydl, Economic Analyst states the Panhandle’s housing market remains weak, but there are some encouraging signs. Pensacola, Fort Walton and Panama City have all begun to report either a slight increase or a stabilization in single-family housing permits.