Evansville forecast 2019.

• Author: Khayum, Mohammed
• Position: Statistical data

Traditional indicators of local economic success, such as job growth, do not always translate into greater economic mobility. A new publicly available online data visualization tool, The Opportunity Atlas (available at http://opportunityatlas.org/) traces outcomes, such as poverty, back to the neighborhoods in which children grew up. The tool, which focuses on the neighborhoods where people grew up rather than where they live as adults, provides support for the idea that the neighborhood in which a child grows up has substantial influence on his or her prospects of upward mobility. The Opportunity Atlas highlights the uneven distribution of economic opportunities across geographic areas and its correlation with the incidence of income inequality. In the Evansville MSA, economic mobility and income inequality are key considerations in designing strategies for advancing economic well-being and the quality of life of its residents.

During 2018, relatively strong growth in the construction and manufacturing sectors combined with increases in personal income and announcements of future fixed investments provide the basis for projecting increased employment, output and income in 2019.

An announcement in October by RB, a global health and hygiene company, to invest in operational efficiencies, as well as construction projects completed in 2018--such as a medical campus in downtown Evansville, a land-based casino and renovations at the Evansville Regional Airport--will continue to boost economic activity in 2019.

Once all data are released for 2018, nominal personal income is estimated to have increased by 4.1 percent and real gross metro product is estimated to have increased by 3.1 percent.

In 2019, Evansville metro area output is forecasted to increase by 2.2 percent. The number of jobs is projected to increase by 2,500, while the unemployment rate is projected to be 2.8 percent. Meanwhile, nominal personal income growth is forecasted to increase by 4.2 percent.

The unemployment rate in the Evansville metro increased slightly from 3.2 percent in January 2018 to 3.5 percent in September 2018. There was a decline in the national unemployment rate from 4.1 percent to 3.7 percent over the same time period. Job gains occurred primarily in the following sectors: manufacturing, construction, retail trade, and transportation, warehousing and utilities. The primary activities experiencing jobs losses were in the information sector and the other services...