Quarterly Business Report: Area firms remain optimistic despite mounting uncertainty

17 Jul 2018


Despite heightened uncertainty from recent retail store closings, looming national tariff policies and the future closure of Electrolux, area firms continue to report strong optimism about future business activity.

Area firms reported continuing difficulty attracting qualified workers, which appears to be restraining local employment growth. Local employment grew at a tepid 0.4 percent rate over the year ending April 2018 as worker shortages limit firms’ growth potential. The manufacturing, education/health, wholesale trade, and transportation/warehousing/utilities sectors led local job growth, while the retail trade, mining/logging/construction, and leisure/hospitality sectors’ employment contracted.

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