JPS Provides Asheville Metro Economic Report – 2016 Fourth Quarter
Johnson Price Sprinkle PA (JPS) provides Asheville Metro Economic Report 2016 Fourth Quarter. JPS has offices in Asheville, Boone and Marion, NC, and provides small to middle market businesses with tax, consulting and audit services.
Highlights:
• The fourth quarter saw the continued setting of new all-time records in the four-county Asheville metro (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties). Total employment, hotel/motel sales, average hotel room rates, private industry average hourly earnings and taxable retail sales are a few key economic indicators which reached new all-time heights in the quarter.
• Asheville area metro added an average of 5,400 net new jobs from a year earlier, earning an average growth rate of 2.9 percent. Monthly year-to-year job growth has continued uninterrupted for six and one-half years.
• Asheville metro’s employment growth rate over the fourth quarter places it third among the state’s 15 metros. The rate is above both the national and statewide rates of growth.
• Averaging 3.9 percent over the fourth quarter, Asheville metro’s unemployment rate continues to hold well below both the state and nation. The metro has held the lowest unemployment rate in the state for the last twenty-one consecutive months.
• Positive net job creation was experienced in all eleven major industry sectors in the area’s metro. The top two gainers each broke all-time fourth quarter employment totals. The Leisure & Hospitality Services sector added 1,200 jobs over the year, up 4.4 percent to a total of 27,800. While the Health Services sector added 1,100 jobs, reaching a new peak employment total of 37,200.
• Private industry average hourly earnings in Asheville’s metro equaled $22.87 in the fourth quarter, an increase of 7.9 percent from a year earlier and the largest percentage increase in over two years. The fourth quarter hourly earnings place it fourth among all fifteen metros in the state.
• Total Passenger Traffic at the Asheville Regional Airport equaled 225,392 in the fourth quarter of 2016; up 15.7 percent from a year earlier, equaling the strongest percentage increase in three years.
• Existing homes sold in the fourth quarter totaled 1,034, while the average sales price equaled $318,939. The number of homes sold is 17 percent lower than one-year earlier, while over the same period the average sales price gained 15 percent.
• Taxable retail sales collections in Asheville totaled $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter; 10.1 percent above collections for the same period one-year earlier. The total sets a new all-time record for retail sales collections in the metro.
Detailed Analysis:
Employment
In the fourth quarter of 2016, Asheville area metro added an average of 5,400 net new jobs from a year earlier, earning an average growth rate of 2.9 percent (Figure 1). Monthly year-to-year job growth has continued uninterrupted for six and one-half years. Employment averaged 190,400 over the quarter; setting a new all-time quarterly employment total.
Figure 1
Total Employment
Monthly Year-Year
Percent Change
Source: NC Division of Employment Security
Asheville metro’s employment growth rate over the fourth quarter of 2016 places it third among the state’s 15 metros (Figure 2). Asheville’s rate is above both the national and statewide rates of growth; 1.6 and 2.0 percent respectively. Two of North Carolina’s metros lost employment over the quarter; Goldsboro and Jacksonville.
Figure 2
2016 4Q Average
North Carolina Metros Employment
One-Year Percent Change
Source: NC Division of Employment Security
Averaging 3.9 percent over the fourth quarter of 2016, Asheville’s unemployment rate continues to hold well below both the nation and state; 5.0 and 4.5 percent respectively (Figure 3). The unemployment rate translates into 8,771 residents unable to find employment.
Asheville metro’s average unemployment rate for the quarter holds as lowest among all of the state’s fifteen metros (Figure 4). The metro has held the lowest unemployment rate in the state for the last twenty-one consecutive months. Currently nine of the state’s metros have quarterly unemployment rates exceeding the national average.
Figure 3
Unemployment Rates (%)
Source: NC Division of Employment Security
Figure 4
Unemployment Rate (%)
2016 4Q Average
Source: NC Division of Employment Security
Positive net job creation was experienced in all eleven major industry sectors in the Asheville metro (Figure 5). The top two gainers each broke all-time fourth quarter employment totals. The Leisure & Hospitality Services sector added 1,200 jobs over the year, up 4.4 percent to a total of 27,800. While the Health Services sector added 1,100 jobs, reaching a new peak employment total of 37,200.
Figure 5
Asheville Metro – 2016 4Q
Major Industry Employment
One-Year Change
Totals rounded to nearest 100. Source: NC Division of Employment Security
Earnings
Private industry average hourly earnings in Asheville’s metro equaled $22.87 in the fourth quarter, an increase of 7.9 percent from a year earlier and the largest percentage increase in over two years (Figure 6).
Asheville’s fourth quarter hourly earnings place it fourth among all fifteen metros in the state; although still below the statewide and national averages (Figure 7). Three of the state’s metros have hourly earnings above the national average; Raleigh, Charlotte and Durham-Chapel Hill.
Figure 6
Asheville Metro
Average Hourly Earnings
Private Industry
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Figure 7
North Carolina Metros – 2016 4Q
Average Hourly Earnings
Private Industry
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Leisure & Hospitality
Buncombe County Hotel/Motel Sales set a new all-time quarterly high of $101 million, registering a 17.5 percent gain over the fourth quarter of 2015 (Figure 8). Hotel/Motel Sales have experienced double-digit percentage growth for the last ten consecutive quarters.
Figure 8
Buncombe County
Hotel/Motel Sales
Source: Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority
Average Hotel Room Rates in Buncombe County rose by 8.1 percent from one year earlier (Figure 9). The room rate averaged $169; setting a new all-time high in the county.
Figure 9
Buncombe County
Average Hotel Room Rate
Source: Smith Travel Research, Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority
Total Passenger Traffic at the Asheville Regional Airport equaled 225,392 in the fourth quarter of 2016; up 15.7 percent from a year earlier, equaling the strongest percentage increase in three years (Figure 10).
Figure 10
Asheville Regional Airport
Total Passengers
Source: Asheville Regional Airport
Housing
Existing homes sold in the fourth quarter totaled 1,034, while the average sales price equaled $318,939 (Figure 11). The number of homes sold is 17 percent lower than one-year earlier, while over the same period the average sales price gained 15 percent (Figure 12).
Figure 11
Asheville Area
Existing Home Sales
Source: NC REALTORS
Figure 12
Asheville Area
Existing Home Sales Trends
Quarterly Year-Year Change (%)
Source: NC REALTORS
At 7.3 percent, Asheville metro’s Same-Home Annual Appreciation Rate in the fourth quarter is third highest among all of the state’s metros and holds above both the state and national rates (Figure 13). This marks the fifteenth consecutive quarter of positive same-home appreciation rates in the Asheville metro. The Greenville metro experienced home price depreciation in the quarter, down 0.3 percent.
Figure 13
Housing Price Index
North Carolina Metros
Same-Home Annual Appreciation Rate (%)
2016 4Q
Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency
Permitting for new residential building totaled 438 units in the fourth quarter with a value of $108 million (Figure 14). In percentage terms, the number of units permitted is roughly the same as one year earlier, although the value is 17.4 percent higher. Multifamily unit permitting accounted for 14 percent of all residential units issued in the fourth quarter.
Figure 14
Asheville Metro
Residential Building Permits
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Retail Sales
Taxable retail sales collections in Asheville area metro totaled $1,913,404,009 ($1.9 billion) in the fourth quarter; 10.1 percent above collections for the same period one-year earlier (Figure 15). The total sets a new all-time record for retail sales in the metro. Retail sales have experienced positive year-over-year growth over the last twelve consecutive quarters; averaging an annual increase of 9.8 percent or $140.6 million.
Figure 15
Asheville Metro
Taxable Retail Sales
Includes collections of penalties, interest, and sales & use tax; and may reflect activity from prior periods. Source: NC Department of Revenue
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