Economist Jon Hockenyos provided an overview of Austin's economic health to the City Council this month.  The Austin MSA has experienced job growth every quarter since the second quarter of 2010.  Sales Tax revenues, an important source of funding for the City services, has been growing every quarter since the first quarter of 2010 after decreasing by double digits during the recession. Venture Capital Investments in the Austin MSA doubled from 2009 to 2010, but are still much lower than 2006 and 2007. 

Click here for the entire economic forecast report, as well as City of Austin budget forecasts and an overview of the City of Austin budget process.

City of Austin Demographer Ryan Robinson shared a presentation with the Austin City Council recently that analyzes census tract level shifts in demographics for Austin and the five-county Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). 

This slide from the presentation at left shows census tracts with the greatest growth over the past decade in dark green.  Those tracts that are orange or red have seen a decline in growth.  This same map of the child population shows even more dramatic shifts with more red census tracts in the Central city and darker green in the suburban areas.

Other trends noted in the presentation are the increasing role that international immigration is playing in our community's growth and the dramatic increase in the Hispanic population.  The fastest growing population is the Asian population and the African American population, while increasing in the MSA as a whole, decreased in the City of Austin.