Surge continues

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan statistical area continues to see a rush of economic growth, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis figures released in early October.

The surge is so strong that the Tampa Bay region's 2016 economic growth output ranks third-best — behind only No. 1 San Francisco and No. 2 Seattle — among the 20 largest U.S. metro areas.

The uptick has been largely driven by the finance, insurance and real estate sectors, according to a report from SpareFoot, an Austin, Texas-based online marketplace for storage facilities and publisher of moving guides. The professional and business services and construction sectors also made large contributions to the region's economic growth, the release notes. The only sector in the region to see a year-over-year decline was arts, entertainment and recreation.