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Jacksonville Ranks In Top 30 For Leading Economic Location

Area Development recently published a Leading Locations study based on economic and workforce data for 373 MSAs to determine which ones had the soundest economic strength indicators. Jacksonville ranked in the top 30 and above other Florida MSAs including Miami and Tampa.

Key indicators used in determining the rankings include prime workforce, economic strength, year-over-year growth and ‘recession busting’ attributes.

Economic strength factors analyzed include per capita real GMP, manufacturing/goods-producing employment, employment growth, unemployment rate and the last three-and five-year periods.

Jacksonville benefits from being located within Florida as the state has some of the lowest business costs in the country, its unionization rate for private-sector manufacturing is the fourth-lowest in the U.S., and the manufacturing and equipment sales tax has been eliminated.

Jacksonville’s strong economic strength ranking is tied to its job growth, traditional business growth, low business costs and diversification of new industries with long-term growth and high-paying jobs potential.