Study Blames China Trade for Tenn. Job Losses

From a Tennessean article (June 30, 2008): "MTSU political science professor Steven Livingston said he is skeptical of the data, saying it would be difficult to tabulate exactly how many jobs are lost to trade with China. Livingston, who views the EPI as a 'long-term opponent of free trade' and the group that helped fund the study as supportive of restrictions on trade with China, said the study appeared to make little effort to find out how many jobs were created because of U.S.-China trade relations. 'There's huge job churn in the US economy, hundreds of thousands of job are gained and lost every month, and these figures need to be viewed in that context.'"

June Economic Indicators

For the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro MSA (.xls), including taxable sales for May (latest available)
(http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc/updates.html)

VW Opens Door for Auto Jobs across Tennessee

From the Tennessean (July 27, 2008): "'The trick will be to attract suppliers for the auto companies that are diversified enough to make products for other industries as well,' said economist David Penn of Middle Tennessee State University.... Whether or not the Volkswagen plant attracts more auto-industry expansion to Tennessee, the move should help the state recruit other industries, MTSU's Penn said." (more)

Global Commerce Spring 2008

"Tennessee Whiskey Exports: The New Old Reliable": Steven Livingston writes, "April exports are up 12.6 percent, a pretty good performance — but one that pales before the 20.51 percent gain posted by the nation."

Nashville, Tennessee Employment and May Economic Indicators

• Nashville Nonfarm Employment 
• Tennessee Nonfarm Employment
• May Economic Indicators for the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro MSA
  

(http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc/updates.html)

Minimum Wage Increases

From Daily News Journal (July 24, 2008): "David Penn, director of MTSU's Business and Economic Research Center, said while the wage increase is a benefit for employees, the timing is unfortunate due to the current economic conditions. 'They (employers) may diminish their workforce,' Penn said, predicting what some employers might do in order to keep their costs under control."

Tennessee: Foreign Investors Stoking Growth

(Note to e-subscribers: Blog post has article link.) Steven Livingston, editor of Global Commerce, is quoted in a Chattanooga Times Free Press article (July 13, 2008) about the impending decision on the location of a new VW plant:

"Tennessee has been a national leader in recruitment of Japanese companies since Nissan was recruited to Smyrna 25 years ago.... 'Because of Nissan and Denso (which together have more than 10,000 workers in Tennessee), we have a bigger share of Japanese direct investment than most other states. But with the currency changes we’ve seen and the growing globalization of business, we’re likely to see more foreign investment from all over the world.'”

Home Prices Weaken in June

From the Tennessean (July 10, 2008): "One positive sign in the figures was a slowdown in the growth of inventory, said David Penn, an economist at MTSU. 'It means that the market is still softening, but not as much as it has been,' he said."

May Building Permits

May Building Permits are uploaded at
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~berc/database.html