Market is healing, doctor says

It may not feel that way sometimes, but the doctor says we're getting better.

Gary Jackson, the Ph.D. director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University, compiles economic data for the region that includes Charlotte, Collier and Lee counties.

In his monthly report, Jackson ticks off the improvements in the region:
• Taxable sales rose 7% from November 2011 to November 2012;
• Passenger traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport has been rising again, up 2% in December and 7% in January from same months a year ago, respectively;
• The three-county area issued 49% more single-family homebuilding permits in January than it did in January 2012;
• Tourism-tax revenues in the three-county area rose 8% in December compared with the same month a year ago;
• The region's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8% in December, down from 10% a year ago.