Tampa Bay clings to scorecard ranking

The 11th edition of the Regional Economic Scorecard showed little change for the Tampa Bay region as its overall ranking in the comparative study remained second to last at five. But, in this struggling economy, sometimes no improvement — or in Tampa Bay's case, some improvement — instills hope for the future.

Though the area remained near the rear of the regions compared in the study, there was relative improvement in two of the included economic indicator rankings: housing and employment.

The report shows that for the first time since summer 2007 the Tampa Bay region had positive growth in net jobs. The first quarter of 2011 shows an increase of roughly 2,700 jobs over the year, bumping Tampa past Jacksonville and Atlanta to fourth place in this category. For the same time frame in last year's report, the region shed almost double that amount.

Housing was another decent category for Tampa Bay, with the area climbing into a fourth-place tie with Jacksonville in the ranking for this indicator. The number of housing permits issued in the first quarter of this year, just more than 2,500, is second among the regions compared. But the area is still depressed in absolute terms; the housing permit growth rate shrank by 4%. “We have definitely seen the number of foreclosures fall,” says Mike Vail, the president and COO of Sweetbay and co-chair of the Tampa Bay Partnership, which sponsored the study. “Once we get through that tunnel we will see new construction begin.”

Vail, explains that one important thing to take away from the study is that the data is beginning to converge — it is becoming easier for the region to move up in the ranks. Says Vail: “This could indicate we are starting to put the recession behind us.”