2005 was a great year for the Greater Austin metro area with all the economic trends moving in the right direction. It was a year in which we could truly say that the regional economy was back on track after the job losses and business closures of the early years of this century.
Indicators show:
• Unemployment was down almost 2 percent from 2004, going from 5.9 percent to 4.2 percent. Our unemployment rate continues to be lower than both the U.S. rate and the Texas rate.
• Employment growth was healthy at 2.7 percent as of November 2005. Sales tax collections in Austin were up almost 13 percent in December 2005 over December 2004.
• The passenger count at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport continued to grow at more than 6 percent for the year.
• The office vacancy rate continued to drop by about 10 percent in the third quarter of 2005 and rents were rising by almost 3 percent.