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Monday Report
December Sales Tax - Top 40 Cities March 17th 2008


UTAH ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT - First Eight Months (8 mos)

ECONOMIC NOTES:

THIS WEEKS LEADS:


 

SCORECARD
RankCityDec 2007 Direct Sales% Change 2006Market Share
1SALT LAKE CITY$427,652-4.2% 11.1%
2SANDY$185,8891.3%4.8%
3OREM $178,559-1.4%4.6%
4WEST VALLEY$175,9014.6% 4.5%
5MURRAY$174,152 -4.5%4.5%
6ST. GEORGE $143,264 4.1%3.7%
7WEST JORDAN$123,562 10.3% 3.2%
8SOUTH SALT LAKE$118,3321.8% 3.1%
9LAYTON$115,825 -0.9%3.0%
10PROVO$106,630 -1.5%2.8%
11OGDEN$104,916 4.1%2.7%
12RIVERDALE$75,8 805.4%2.0%
13LOGAN $71,4607.3%1.8%
14PARK CITY$69,342-4.3% 1.8%
15AMERICAN FORK$61,7202.0% 1.6%
16TAYLORSVILLE$ 53,83913.5%1.4%
17SOUTH JORDAN$52,0789.9% 1.3%
18DRAPER$49,607 7.3%1.3%
19MIDVALE$48,506 -5.2%1.3%
20VERNAL $47,7521.2%1.2%
21CEDAR CITY$42,1271.2% 1.1%
22COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS$38,674 1.0%
23BOUNTIFUL$37,8 754.9%1.0%
24LEHI$37,254 -1.9%1.0%
25LINDON $30,493-3.8%0.8%
26TOOELE CITY$30,1736.8% 0.8%
27CENTERVILLE $28,73810.5%0.7%
28SPRINGVILLE $25,6964.2%0.7%
29SPANISH FORK$24,3255.5% 0.6%
30SOUTH OGDEN$21,88915.1% 0.6%
31HOLLADAY $19,202-12.50.5%
32WEST BOUNTIFUL$18,96410.5% 0.5%
33RICHFIELD$18,4 695.5%0.5%
34WOODS CROSS$18,197-1.1% 0.5%
35PAYSON$17,774 10.8%0.5%
36NORTH SALT LAKE$17,2386.6% 0.4%
37BRIGHAM CITY$17,0834.3% 0.4%
38ROY $15,71120.0%0.4%
39CLEARFIELD $14,27411.1%0.4%
40HEBER$13,682 13.0%0.4%

Source: Utah State Tax Commission, March 2008


Ireland's economic turnaround was not the result of luck - it was a strategy that Utah should follow

Today's St. Patrick's Day celebration stands as a testimonial to the deep ties between Ireland and the US. It's also a good time to look at Ireland's dramatic economic success and what we can learn from it.

Less than two decades ago, Ireland was a tired, lagging economy, suffering from double-digit unemployment, stagnating incomes and a brain drain of its best and brightest. At the time, Irish businessmen, government officials and economic developers made pilgrimages to Pittsburgh to learn from our leaders about how to restructure ailing industries, attract talented expatriates back home and integrate technology into their economic growth.

Today, Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, boasting a roaring technology industry and productivity levels among the highest in Europe.

The Irish Miracle was powered by a new model of growth, premised upon the "Three Ts" of economic development - technology, talent and tolerance from which we can learn.

Technology: Under the savvy leadership of the Industrial Development Authority, the Irish worked aggressively to recruit leading high-tech companies through a policy of "industrialization by invitation."

Financial and tax-related incentives helped recruit the first wave of companies such as IBM, Lotus, Intel, Microsoft, Dell, Gateway and Oracle, which were also lured by the thick talent pool emerging from the country's world-class universities.

Not content to simply recruit high-tech from abroad, the Irish government formed a body known as Enterprise Ireland, to support entrepreneurship and venture capital and foster the indigenous high-tech industry. Today, top Irish companies such as Baltimore Technologies, Iona Technologies and NUA are players on the global stage.

The Irish software industry now consists of some 700 firms, employing over 18,000 people. Today, Ireland is the fifth-largest producer and second- largest exporter of packaged software in the world - second only to the United States.

Talent: By investing in its higher education system, Ireland simultaneously bolstered is ability both to generate and to attract top talent. Since the 1960s, the Irish government has invested heavily in higher education and, in particular, it has supported the formation of technical skills in electronics and computer-related disciplines through a system of regional technical colleges.

Today, 60 percent of Ireland's university students major in engineering, science or business. And with a growing job market and exciting lifestyle options, fewer and fewer have any reason to leave the country.

Tolerance and Lifestyle: But both of these more traditional economic development efforts would not have worked if Ireland did not support and reinforce them with the third T. Long a conservative nation, Ireland built upon its legacy of culture, art and music to become a center for bohemian energy and an eclectic milieu of scenes, lifestyles and people.

Today the streets teem with a mixture of people - from buttoned-down businessmen to "geeky" software developers, edgy black-garbed artists and musicians. In a remarkable fusion of history and progressiveness, Ireland has turned cities like Dublin into lifestyle meccas for dynamic creative people and those who want to be around such amenities.

The first step revolved around attracting creative talent. By offering tax breaks to creative people and a high-quality place to live and work, the country has not only retained its growing legion of native celebrities, such as U2, Van Morrison and Liam Neeson, but also plays host - and home - to many international stars, such as Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The second step revolved around building true quality of place grounded in history and authenticity. Dublin began by restoring its Temple Bar district - painstakingly revitalizing the same pubs where James Joyce, Bram Stoker and Samuel Beckett might have once had a pint. Today, the district is hipper and more energetic than ever before.

This strategy of leveraging authentic cultural assets to attract people and spur economic revitalization is a far cry from the generic "mall" approach of chain stores, chain restaurants and chain bars that so many second-class cities waste millions of dollars pursuing.

Source: Richard Florida is the H. John Heinz III Professor of Regional Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University. Elizabeth Currid, who studied at Trinity College Dublin, is a HUD Fellow pursuing her master's degree at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz School. Anita Sands, a Ph.D. in physics from The Queen's University of Belfast, is a Fulbright and O'Reilly Foundation Scholar pursuing her master's degree at the Heinz School.

Note: Some edits were made to make the article more Utah appropriate. BS

THIS WEEKS LEADS:

  • Ikea
  • Ikea Property, Inc. trades as Ikea at 270 locations nationwide and internationally.
  • The stores, selling European-style, contemporary home furnishings, occupy spaces of 250,000 sq.ft. to 350,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations.
  • Growth opportunities are sought nationwide during the coming 18 months.
  • Preferred demographics include a population of two million within a 40- to 60-mile radius.
  • A land area of 20 acres to 25 acres is required.
  • For more information, contact
    • Joseph Roth,
    • Ikea Property, Inc.,
    • 420 Alan Wood Road,
    • Conshohocken, PA 19428;
    • Web site: www.ikea.com.
  • Little Caesars Pizza
  • Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc. trades as Little Caesars Pizza at locations nationwide.
  • The pizzerias occupy spaces of 1,200 sq.ft. to 1,400 sq.ft. in freestanding locations and strip centers.
  • Growth opportunities are sought nationwide during the coming 18 months.
  • Typical leases run five years with options.
  • The company prefers to locate near supermarkets, video stores and pharmacies.
  • Preferred demographics include a population of 25,000 within three miles earning $50,000 as the average household income.
  • The company is franchising.
  • For more information, contact
    • Mike Atwell,
    • Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc.,
    • 2211 Woodward Avenue,
    • Detroit, MI 48201- 3400.

Greetings!

December 2007 Direct Retail Sales

  • Who is up?
  • Who is down?
  • How and where are Utahn's spending?
  • Saint Patrick's Day - "The Irish Miracle"

Bob Springmeyer

Bonneville Research


  • UTAH ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT - First Eight Months (8 mos)
  • Utah State Government

    • Sales and Use Taxes (Gen Gov't) -3.5%
    • Individual Income Taxes (Education) +4.2%
    • Corporate Franchise Taxes (Gen Gov't) -11.4%
    • Motor Fuel Taxes (Transportation) +8.1%
    • Severance Taxes (Gen Gov't) +15.1%

    Source: Utah State Tax Commission, TC-23 3/13/08


  • ECONOMIC NOTES:
    • International Business Confidence
    • Global business confidence remains very weak, although it has been stable since the beginning of the year. Sentiment is darkest in the U.S. where it is consistent with recession. European confidence is also notably soft. Real estate firms, financial institutions and business service firms are the most worried, but even manufacturers and high-tech firms are measurably more nervous. Assessments of current conditions and the outlook six months hence remain notably dour, although responses to all nine questions in the survey are soft. Firms continue to reduce inventories. Pricing pressures remain subdued despite $100-plus oil.
    • Import and Export Prices
    • The U.S. Import Price Index increased 0.2% in February. A 0.6% increase in nonpetroleum prices fueled the advance in overall import prices. U.S. export prices advanced 0.9% in February following a 1.2% rise in January.
    • Treasury Budget
    • The unified deficit for February was $176 billion, just above the CBO's preliminary estimate of a $174 billion deficit. The federal government has run a deficit of $263 billion through the first five months of fiscal year 2008; this is 62% larger than the deficit at the same point in fiscal year 2007. After a few years of improvement, the federal budget deficit is again widening.
    • International Employment Survey
    • The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey added five countries to the list in the latest survey, bringing the total number to 32. Employers in all of the countries and territories surveyed expect to add staff during the June quarter this year. The net employment outlook in the U.S. unexpectedly improved, with 17% of employers intending to hire in the second quarter compared with just 10% in the opening three months. In Europe, hiring intentions softened in most countries but demand for workers strengthened in Germany according to the unadjusted readings. Meanwhile, employment activity in the Asia region will remain strong, as more employers plan to recruit in the three months to June.
    • International Trade (FT900)
    • The nominal U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened by 0.6% in January. The U.S. trade deficit came in at $58.20 billion, $0.34 billion more than December's revised $57.9 billion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In January, both exports and imports increased, though imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit with China, however, widened to $20.3 billion, but is 0.5% less than a year ago. Crude oil prices increased in January, which in turn increased the nation's total import bill for oil to $27.1 billion.
    • Consumer Price Index
    • The top-line CPI for February came in at 212.6, indicating slight disinflation. The monthly inflation rate was zero, while the year-ago top-line inflation rate was 4.1%, down 0.3 percentage points from January inflation. Core inflation also fell slightly, from 2.5% in January to 2.3% in February. Most likely, the slight decrease in inflation is due to the onset of the demand-side downturn as the U.S. slides into recession.
    • Employment Situation
    • The labor market performed even worse than Moody's Economy.com's expectation of no gains. Payrolls declined by 63,000 in February, with sharp losses in goods-producing industries (-89,000) as well as tepid gains in services (26,000). Government payrolls rebounded as expected with a gain of 38,000. In addition, the January losses were revised downward slightly to a loss of 22,000, even though the preliminary decline in government payrolls was mostly revised away to a gain of 4,000. The unemployment rate, however, fell to 4.8%; it is calculated from a separate survey.
    • Consumer Credit (G19)
    • Consumer credit increased in January by a modest $6.9 billion to $2.525 trillion. The details of the report showed that the bulk of the increase came from revolving credit, which advanced at a faster pace in December. Demand for revolving credit should remain comparably sturdy as rising joblessness, falling house prices, and slower income growth force consumers to turn more to credit cards to finance consumption.
    • Wholesale Trade (MWTR)
    • Wholesale inventories rose by 0.8% in January, doubling consensus expectations of a 0.4% build, following an unrevised 1.1% reading in December. Sales rose by 2.7% in January compared with an upwardly revised 0.5% decline in December. The inventory-to-sales ratio fell two-hundredths of a point to 1.07 in January.
    • Jobless Claims
    • Initial jobless claims held steady at 353,000, slightly below expectations. Important to remember, however, is that this is elevated relative to the trend of recent years, indicating that layoffs have marginally increased over the past several months.
    • Business Inventories (MTIS)
    • Total business inventories increased by 0.8% in January, beating expectations for a milder gain. Retail inventories are the only new data in this report, which increased by 0.4%. Sales rose by 1.5%, with increases in all categories. The I/S ratio declined slightly to 1.25 from its previous 1.26.
    • Quarterly Services Survey
    • In the fourth quarter of 2007, the information industry posted revenue growth of 4.5% from a year ago. Professional, scientific, and technical services industry revenues grew 5.9%, administrative and support industry revenues 1.4%, and hospital and nursing care industry revenues 7.9%.
    • MBA Mortgage Applications Survey
    • The MBA applications indices finished mixed, as they were in the week before. The purchase index finished the week ending March 7 at 363.1, up 1.6% from the previous week. Higher mortgage contract rates continued to erode the refinance index, which ended at 2,448.2, down by 4.7% from the past week. The overall market index ended at 671.7, down 1.9% from the previous week.
    • Chain Store Sales
    • Chain store sales rose 0.3% in the week ending March 8 according to the ICSC, leaving the index in its recent narrow range. Year-over-year growth was hurt by difficult comparisons, falling to 1.6%, the worst performance in five weeks. The ICSC noted high energy prices and unfavorable weather as drags in the week.
    • Retail Sales (MARTS)
    • Total retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.6% in February, following an upwardly revised 0.4% gain in January. Sales at auto dealers fell despite little change in unit auto sales. So sales excluding autos fell a smaller 0.2% after gaining 0.5% in January (originally reported as 0.3%). Drug stores, warehouse clubs, and sporting goods and hobby stores were among the few bright spots in February.
    • Oil and Gas Inventories
    • Crude oil inventories soared by 6.2 million barrels for the week ending March 7, according to the Energy Information Administration, compared with expectations of a 1.7 million barrel buildup. Distillate supplies fell by 1.2 million barrels, above expectations of a 1.9 million barrel decline. Gasoline inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels, above expectations of a 0.3 million barrel buildup. Refinery operating capacity fell to 85.0% from 85.9%. This report will depress oil prices.
    • Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report
    • nderground storage of natural gas fell by 86 billion cubic feet during the week ending March 7, slightly more than the consensus expectation for a drawdown of 85 billion cubic feet. Total underground storage was 1,398 Bcf as of March 7, 151 Bcf less than a year ago but 57 Bcf above the five-year average for this time of year.

    Source: Economy.com 2008


  • THIS WEEKS LEADS:
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    We work to help clients achieve enduring results and improve the communities in which we live.


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