The Federal Reserve confirmed the obvious Wednesday – “Economic activity contracted sharply and abruptly across all regions in the United States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Price hikes are reported across the Southeast in grains, milk and eggs, as well as demand for oranges.
Tag: Economy
Posted inColumns
COVID-19 threatens health of arts organizations; some face bankruptcy
By Guest Columnist LARA SMITH, managing director of Dad’s Garage Theatre
I work as the managing director of Dad’s Garage Theatre (we specialize in improv and scripted comedy), and even with our very robust financial protections we are still facing financial challenges in this crisis.
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Foreclosure crisis isn’t on horizon as pandemic roils mortgage industry: Harvard Center
A surge of foreclosed homes isn’t on the horizon because of the pandemic, but the fate of renters is less than certain because they’re harder for the government to protect, according to a comments in a forum sponsored Tuesday evening by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.
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Legal business hasn’t recovered: Hiring rates down, firms seek shorter office leases
The lawyering business isn’t hiring at the same rate it was before the Great Recession, and a pair of mixed reports released this week on metro Atlanta show that even though some local firms are hiring, the sector is taking a conservative position with office space.
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Housing starts to tumble as state’s economy slows, GSU’s top economist predicts
A drop-off in housing starts in metro Atlanta will be one likely consequence of a state economy forecast to slow through 2021, according to a new report by Georgia State University’s top economist. A short supply of housing has already helped drive up sales and rental prices and fueled the lack of affordable housing, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission.
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Fewer drug tests, less job experience: New hiring norms as labor shortage hits employers
Employers in the Southeast have eliminated some drug testing because of the labor shortage. The Southeast is the only region in the nation where cutbacks in drug testing were mentioned in the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book.
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Gov. Kemp’s spending cutbacks follow historic pattern: Moody’s Investors Service
Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered a 4 percent reduction in state spending starting Oct. 1 and a 6 percent cut starting next July 1. The move is in keeping with the long line of Georgia governors who have cut spending as revenues decline and maintained a high credit rating, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
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Tariff concerns rise in Georgia, Southeast as tight labor market draws headlines
A tight labor market continues to headline the Southeast’s economic conditions, though the transportation industry is bracing for job cuts related to trade tariffs, according to a federal report – and that was before President Trump announced potential tariffs on Mexico.
Posted inMetro Business, Thought Leader
ORBATL and the Metro Export Challenge Show Companies How to Grow Exports
By Metro Atlanta ChamberAs digitization continues to influence how businesses large and small conduct operations, many entrepreneurs need to be prepared to think big. How can their business reach not just a pre-determined audience, but how can the company also be prepared to engage with global markets and begin to grow at an international scale? […]
Posted inColumns
By the Numbers: Region’s economy humming as stars aligned, before bank merger
Metro Atlanta’s economic engine is humming right along, according to a new report that factors in the estimated 6,500 jobs lost in the region in the past year but not the unknown fallout from the announced merger of SunTrust and BB&T.
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Metro Atlanta ranks 10th of 15 big U.S. metros for future commercial investments, Trepp reports
Metro Atlanta ranks 10th out of the nation’s top 15 metro regions for investment potential in commercial loans, according to a new report by the industry watcher Trepp. In a small way, the bankruptcy of a popular bicycle business with four shops in the region shows why metro Atlanta isn’t ranked higher.
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Atlanta Fed District voices concerns over economy, other districts sound same note
The real-time snapshot of the Southeast regional economy released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve cites concerns over politics and trade. This notion of unease tracks comments in a speech the Fed’s vice chairman delivered last week, when he observed that patience is the watchword at the start of 2019.
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Gov.-elect Kemp views strong state tax revenues as he ponders first budget proposal
Incoming Gov. Brian Kemp has the benefit of delivering his first budget proposal to the Legislature as the state economy continues to expand and spin off an increasing amount of tax revenues, according to an economic outlook contained in a new policy brief by Georgia’s state economist.
Posted inColumns
Construction costs skyrocket, niches remain – such as Houston’s site near Lenox Mall
The site of a former Houston’s restaurant, across Lenox Road from the mall, is just the type of property that could accommodate a trophy asset the current and near-future economy could support. This comes at a time a new report from CBRE suggests some potential commercial developments may not make much economic sense because of skyrocketing construction costs in metro Atlanta.
Posted inColumns
It’s still the economy, but it’s … complicated
The market’s having a lousy year, but politically, the nation seems not to have noticed. Opinions about the economy, always subject to political leanings, seem increasingly less tethered to objective data.
Posted inHigher Education, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Forecaster: Corporate Sector Bounce-Back Leads Georgia Job Growth
Georgia’s job additions in the third quarter nearly equaled the total job additions in the first half of 2018, according to Rajeev Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. “In the first six months of 2018, the Peach State saw job gains of 35,600, just slightly […]
Posted inHigher Education, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Forecast: Domestic-Demand Sectors Will Drive Georgia Job Growth
Georgia’s job creation in the first six months of 2018 primarily arose from domestically driven sectors, according to Rajeev Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. The state created 36,300 jobs in the first half of the year, lower than the last half of 2017 and […]
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Fed’s Beige Book notes shift in employers’ choices for filling vacant jobs
Jobs remain hard to fill in metro Atlanta and across the Southeast, though business leaders continue to resist raising wages to attract employees, according to the latest federal report on the economy.
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Employers remain reluctant to raise wages in metro Atlanta, Southeast, Fed reports
A tight labor market remains a big story in metro Atlanta and the Southeastern United States, and the latest economic survey by the Federal Reserves shows employers remain resistant to raising wages to attract workers.
Posted inLatest News
San Diego has an hour-glass economy of well-paid and low-paid jobs with little in the middle
SAN DIEGO, CA – On the second day of the metro Atlanta LINK trip to this southern California city, Georgia leaders discovered differences and similarities between the two regions.
In San Diego, one out of every four jobs is related to the military, generating an economic impact of $50 billion a year and employing up to 140,000 people in the south California region.
