Employment data for the fourth quarter (October, November and December) in St. Tammany Parish was not available, as the Louisiana Department of Labor did not have household sample data for the Parish. Without having this data, it is not known what the impact Hurricane Katrina had on the employment picture in the Parish for the last four months of the year. Although initial unemployment claims for the fourth quarter numbered 1,972 or 679.4% higher than for the fourth quarter in 2004, the number of claims dropped sharply from October through December. October initial claims were 1,801, November claims were 126 and December claims were 45. This could mean that the high point for initial unemployment claims has passed. Since it is not known how many persons were employed in the quarter, it is also not known how many persons were unemployed as well. St. Tammany employment data will not be available until household sample data is available and, is not known at this time when the data will be available.

St. Tammany fourth quarter single-family building permits issued were down 37.5% compared to fourth quarter 2004. The average number of permits issued, on a monthly basis, in the fourth quarter (179) were slightly lower than average monthly permits issued in the first eight months of 2005 (206). Growth of commercial building permits in the fourth quarter accelerated with 54.2% more permits issued in the quarter compared to the number of permits issued in the fourth quarter 2004. Year-to-date commercial permits exceeded year-to-date permits in 2004 by 23.6%. St. Tammany Parish continues to be attractive for businesses both by local and businesses outside the Parish.

St. Tammany housing sales continue to soar in the fourth quarter as the number of single-family homes sold was 75.9% higher than were sold in the fourth quarter 2004. Year-to-date unit sales were 59.8% ahead of unit sales for the comparable period in 2004. St. Tammany available housing is in high demand as reflected in total dollar sales volume and average sales price. Fourth quarter total dollar sales volume was 105.7% higher than in fourth quarter 2004. Year-to-date sales volume was 83.5% ahead of same period in 2004. Average price for a house sold in fourth quarter 2005 was $220,625. This compares to average price of a house sold in fourth quarter 2004 of $188,628 or an increase of 17.0%. For all of 2005 the average price of a house sold was $210,396 compared to average price of a house sold in all of 2004 of $183,227, or an increase of 14.8%. October had the highest monthly average sold price of $225,683 of the three months in the quarter. Many Katrina-damaged houses were sold at or above pre-Katrina prices. Inventory of lower priced homes is largely depleted while the higher priced home inventory is thinning as a result of high housing demand post-Katrina.

St. Tammany Parish fourth quarter sales totals were up a staggering 62.8% over 2004 fourth quarter sales totals. For all of 2005 sales totals were ahead of all of 2004 sales totals by 20.2%. A break down of the monthly sales in the fourth quarter shows the October over October increase was 64.0%; November over November, 50.9%; and December over December, 71.2%. The sales numbers for each of the months in the fourth quarter were the highest of any month in the history of sales tracking. A considerable part of this atypical increase is due to purchases of building materials to restore both residential and commercial buildings damaged by the hurricane as well as purchases made by large number of displaced persons from hurricane devastated areas beyond St. Tammany Parish. Construction workers and volunteers entering the parish to work on various projects also added to increased sales purchases.

Fourth quarter 2005 announced project investment exceeded fourth quarter 2004 investment by 32.6%, $26,071,300 versus $20,150,000. This performance brought year-to-date investment just short (2.2%) of breaking even to year-to-date 2004 investment. 2005 estimated permanent job creation is 594 jobs compared to 906 estimated jobs in 2004. Number of projects in 2005 was 29 projects (14 new, 15 expansions) compared to 33 projects in 2004.

The number of new electric customers has been overtaken by the number of lost customers due to hurricane Katrina. St. Tammany Parish fourth quarter average number of electric customers was 1.6% lower than the average number of customers in the fourth quarter 2004. The hurricane caused an estimated loss of 5,000 electric customers across the Parish. This estimate is determined by subtracting the December customer count from the pre-Katrina (July) customer count. Of the 5,000 customers lost due to the storm, it is estimated that 95% of the loss occurred in the southern part of the parish where the tidal surge did the most damage. At this juncture it is not known how many of the damaged or destroyed homes will be brought back on line. Several months must pass before this can be determined.

The St. Tammany Parish net occupancy tax collections (bed tax) for the fourth quarter increased 12.2% over the bed tax collections of the fourth quarter in 2004. This performance brought the total bed tax collections for all of 2005 short of 2004 total bed tax collection by -5.0%, an improvement compared to the first nine months which languished in a larger negative year-to-date over year-to-date comparison. Fourth quarter hotel receipts were 58.0% higher than for the fourth quarter in 2004. For all of 2005, hotel receipts were 15.4% higher than for all of 2004. Much of the increase in the hotel receipts in the fourth quarter was due to incoming evacuees, out of town volunteers, and construction workers.

Fourth quarter 2005 cost of living index for St. Tammany Parish was 95.7. Based on a 100 scale, St. Tammany Parish composite cost of living for middle management households was 4.3% below the national average. St. Tammany Parish second quarter ranking was 8th among a group of twelve selected metropolitan areas nearest geographically to St. Tammany Parish with composite indices ranging from 84.3 for Jackson, MS to 101.4 for Baton Rouge. Other metropolitan area indexes are Mobile, 89.9; Shreveport; 90.9, Beaumont, 93; Hattiesburg, 94.2; Biloxi-Gulfport, 95.0; Tuscaloosa, 95.6, Montgomery, 96.6; Lafayette, 96.8; New Orleans, 101.2; and Baton Rouge, 101.

Fourth quarter inflation rate for the Parish was 6.3% compared to the Southern Region of the United States of 4.1%. This comparison is for the fourth quarter 2005 over fourth quarter 2004. High gasoline prices and major appliance repair service call charges are main reasons for the jump in the fourth quarter Parish rate. Data used to compute St. Tammany inflation rate was taken from the ACCRA Cost of Living Survey items. The survey is conducted quarterly. It should be noted the Southern Region survey of basket of goods contains over 250 items whereas the ACCRA Cost of Living basket contains 56 items. Some sections of the St. Tammany survey contain only three components. As a result, the inflation rate computed for the Parish is subject to wider rate swings. The Parish wide swings in the rate can be caused by a significant price change in one item in a low-item section in the Parish index.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index advanced in January following increases in November and December. "Consumer Confidence is now at its highest level in more than three years (June 2002)" says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "January’s increase was driven solely by consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions, especially their more positive view of the job market. But while consumers rate current conditions more favorably than they have in more than four years, the improvement has not translated into greater optimism about the near-term future. In fact, the gap between consumers’ assessment of current conditions and their expectations remains wide. Overall, consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions was more favorable in January than in December. Consumers’ outlook for the next six months was somewhat more subdued in January than in December."

The U. S. leading index increased slightly (0.1%) in December, following large gains in October and November. The six-month growth rate of the leading index picked up to a 2.1% rate in December from a low of 0.6% in May. The strength among the leading indicators has been widespread since August. Six of the ten components making up the leading index increased in December. The coincident index, a measure of current activity, increased (0.2%) again in December. Three of the four components that make up the coincident index advanced in December. It has been on a relatively steady upward trend since April 2003, but the growth rate has moderated since June 2005. The six-month growth rate of the coincident index has been fluctuating around 1.5% annual rate in the last four months. The lagging index had a modest gain (0.1%) in December. Five of the seven components making up the lagging index advanced in December. The St. Tammany Composite Growth Index which measures the Parishes economic growth indicated fourth quarter economic growth was 23.2% over fourth quarter 2004. 2005 economic growth was 7.5% compared to all of 2004. The fourth quarter economic performance in the St. Tammany economy shows abnormal upward activity in retail sales and hotel receipts. Also the reporting of employment numbers is still absent as the Louisiana Department of Labor has not resumed reporting employment for St. Tammany Parish. When employment reporting will restart is unknown at this time. The St. Tammany economy remains strong.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS