| Crystal ball bright
for Hampton Roads
Virginia Business
March 2004
Hampton
Roads is in for a pretty good year, according
to Old Dominion University’s annual economic forecast.
The region should see steady growth in everything except
unemployment, which is predicted to drop slightly to
3.8 percent. Forecasters’ predictions on major
economic bellwether categories include the following:
| Gross
regional product |
$56.4
billion |
+4.5
percent |
| Civilian
employment |
729,290
|
+0.7
percent |
| Taxable
sales |
$16.93
billion |
+3.4
percent |
| Hotel
revenues |
$679.3
million |
+4.6
percent |
| General
cargo tonnage |
$14.41
million |
+3.3
percent |
Single-family
housing
permits value |
$1.018.7
million |
+3.5
percent |
These
numbers, of course, can’t predict an unexpected
calamity. ODU forecasters admit that their 2003 predictions
grossly underestimated taxable sales by 3.8 percent.
The culprit? Last September’s Hurricane Isabel,
which contributed an unanticipated $422 million to the
coffers of Hampton Roads businesses.
Virginia
Business - March 2004
|
