ECONOMIC TRENDS REPORT Miami-Dade County

ECONOMIC TRENDS REPORT

Dear Business Associate: The 2015 Fourth Quarter reports show that, overall, the Miami-Dade County economy remained strong with concern on the horizon regarding economic conditions in South America, especially Brazil, and the impact they could have on the County’s trade and tourism industries.  Private sector employment in 2015:Q4 added 17,500 jobs over 2014:Q4 and 154,000 jobs since 2010:Q1 when the current economic expansion began. Public sector employment in 2015:Q4 shed 2,100 jobs since last year and a total of 13,000 jobs since 2010:Q1. The Miami-Dade County unemployment rate dropped to 6.1% in 2015:Q4 from 6.6% in 2014:Q4 and 12% in 2009:Q3. The average wage earner in Miami-Dade saw the weekly real wage decline -1.6% in 2015:Q4 over the same quarter last year. Though 2015:Q4 single-family homes sales volume fell 8.3% compared to 2014:Q4, the median sales price of existing single-family homes was up 10.7% over the same period. Condo-Townhouse sales volume also fell, 7.2% between 2014:Q4 and 2015:Q4, and the median sales price was still up 7.1% over the year. The Case-Shiller home price index for all homes in the Miami MSA increased 7.7% in 2015:Q4 over the same quarter last year. There were 4,200 residential units permitted in 2015:Q4 bringing the total for the year up to 12,700, the highest number of units permitted since 2006. The office market vacancy rate fell to 10% in 2015:Q4 from 12% a year ago and average lease rates were up 5% from a year ago to $28.94 in 2015:Q4. The industrial market vacancy rate fell to 4.5% in 2015:Q4 from 5.4% a year ago and average lease rates were up 13.6% from a year ago to $10.18 in 2015:Q4. Taxable sales in 2015:Q4, after adjusting for both seasonality and price inflation, were up nearly $457 million (+3.8%) over 2014:Q4, to reach $12.58 Billion. The total value of goods traded through MIA and PortMiami in 2015 fell 8.5% to $79.5 Billion. Total 2015 tonnage for the County through both ports was up 8.7% over 2014 to 8.1 million tons. Total overnight visitors to Miami-Dade in 2015:Q4 were up 6.4% over 2014:Q4 to 3.9 million visitors with the number of international visitors up 4.9% and domestic visitors up 7.9%. <<PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW REPORT>> If you have any questions, comments, or would like additional information, please contact Manuel Armada, Chief, Planning Research & Economic Analysis, Planning Division, Department of Regulatory & Economic Resources at (305) 375-2845 or MAV@MiamiDade.gov. Thank you. Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources Planning, Research & Economic Analysis  Phone: 305-375-2845 111 N.W. First Street, 12th Floor, Miami, Florida 33128-1994 Miami-Dade County is a public entity subject to Chapter 119 of the Florida statutes concerning public records. Email messages are covered under such laws and thus subject to disclosure. All email sent and received is captured by our server and kept as public record. Please refer to Miami-Dade County's Administrative order 6-7.