Muncie Forecast 2018.

• Author: Faulk, Dagney
• Position: Statistical data

The Muncie area economy continued to grow slowly over the past year. Nonfarm employment increased by less than 1 percent, while average weekly wages increased by about 6 percent and the number and amount of food stamps issued decreased substantially. Residential home sales were strong and continued shortages of inventories in the $120,000 to $250,000 have not spurred much new construction. The number of building permits issued actually decreased relative to the previous year and are much lower than pre-recession levels.

The two biggest news stories were not directly related to the business sector but will affect local businesses, economic development prospects and the ability of Muncie to attract new households to live in the area.

* During May 2017, media reported an FBI investigation into alleged corruption in Muncie city government which has resulted in the indictment of one government official. (1) The investigation continues.

* After years of fiscal distress, during 2017, the State designated Muncie Community Schools, the largest school corporation in the county, as a fiscally impaired school corporation and appointed an emergency manager to implement a deficit reduction plan to stabilize the corporation's finances by the end of the year. (2) The deficit reduction plan included closing three elementary schools and reducing the number of teachers. (3) The school corporation's enrollment decreased by another 500 students as more families moved their children out of Muncie schools. (4)

Some of the highlights from 2017's business news included the closing of a local grocery store chain and the purchases of the shuttered Borg Warner plant and a local aquaculture facility. After closing several stores in Muncie over the past decade, Indiana-based Marsh Supermarkets filed for bankruptcy in spring 2017 and closed over the summer. (5) Two of the four remaining locations were purchased by Kroger, which plans to open them under the Pay Less brand. (6) The former BorgWarner plant, which closed in 2009, was sold over the summer. (7) Most of the 1-million-square-foot building has since been demolished leaving about 200,000 square feet of space to be reused. Bell Aquaculture, an Albany-based fish farm that had been struggling financially, was purchased by AquaBounty Technologies to grow genetically engineered salmon. (8)

This article includes the most current data available on various measures of economic activity from public sources for the Muncie MSA (Delaware County) to analyze changes over the past year. A summary of the labor market forecast for the Muncie area is included in the conclusion.

Labor markets

The unemployment rate showed much variation but ultimately fell over the course of the year, decreasing from 5.6 percent in January to 4.3 percent in September (see Table 1). This September rate is lower than one year ago. Delaware County's unemployment rate continues to be higher than Indiana's rate of 3.6 percent (not seasonally adjusted) during September 2017. The...