A GLANCE AT SOME KEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS

GDP: GDP is the total monetary or market value of all finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. A negative GDP across two consecutive quarters is considered a threshold of determining recession. But our GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.2% in the third quarter and 2.9% in the 4th quarter of 2022 (GDPNow), in contrast to a decrease of 0.6% in the second quarter.

Employment: The labor market has been exceptionally tight for the last year, with unemployment rates at historical lows. Unemployment numbers at the end of 2022 were as follows: 2.6% in Florida, 3.2% in Polk County and 3.5% nationally. The tech sector is showing signs of cooling off. Microsoft and Google both laid off 10,000+ employees and Spotify recently laid off 6% of its workforce.

Industrial Production: A decrease in industrial production is another sign of a recession. It reflects the level of economic activity in the manufacturing and mining sectors. The Industrial Production Index was at its highest point since the beginning of the pandemic in July 2022, but has declined slightly each month since.

Retail Sales: Nationally, retail sales were down 1.1% in December compared to November.

Housing market: New housing starts are down 24% nationally and down 9.4% in Florida from the recent highs in the spring of 2022.

Stock Market: In 2022, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 8.8%, the S&P 500 was down 19.44%, and the NASDAQ-100 was down 32.4%.