What to take from Economic Scorecard?

We're number three! Out of five.

Not very exciting perhaps, but the Spring 2009 version of the Regional Economic Scorecard, a product of the Tampa Bay Partnership, reveals quite a bit.
Tampa Bay is ranked against Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Jacksonville, and Raleigh-Durham.

A few nuggets show how “bad” is relative:

• Tampa Bay ranked fourth out of six in job growth despite losing 83,400 jobs between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009.

• The region also pulled the fourth place ranking for housing permit growth rate, even though starts are down almost 51% in the year-over-year comparison.

And a few others reveal strengths and weaknesses:

• The report compares Tampa Bay's $280 million in university-backed research and development funding to the Raleigh-Durham region's $1.7 billion, a stark contrast.

• But Tampa Bay leads the rest in transportation investment per capita, with $529.61 per person as of the 2009 fiscal year.
If you're really curious to see where Tampa Bay stands against the competition, download the report from the Tampa Bay Partnership's website, and take a closer look at the numbers behind the rankings.