Because the Fed has raised interest rates by 1.75 percentage points in six moves since June 1999, the cost of borrowing money for expansion is higher. He wants you to really make damn sure that when you build that new facility, it's going to cost more to build it and you're going to have to get a better return than you did four or five years ago. For a snapshot of the local economy, The Enquirer collected data on jobs, production, construction, even sales tax collections, as a reflection of retail sales. The number of jobs in the 13-county area is still growing, up 1.9 percent in July from a year ago, to 1.02 million. That's a hair slower than a year ago.
Manufacturing remains strong.
Other indicators such as industrial electricity sales are stable, and the number of hours the average factory worker works is rising slightly, as are his wages. New housing starts are down about 8 percent from a year earlier, and commercial construction is down as well. Still, combined sales for Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren counties are up more than 8 percent for the year through June. He also chairs the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce's economic advisory committee, which will release its 2001 forecast on Tuesday. Locally, we tend to track the nation fairly well.