ANDERSON -- A local expert is cautiously optimistic about continued improvement in local economic conditions, the Anderson Rotary Club learned Tuesday during its annual economic forecast luncheon at Anderson Country Club.
Employment is expected to improve with a slight decline in unemployment rates and modest increases in the number of jobs created, said Terry Truitt, dean of the Falls School of Business at Anderson University.
The unemployment rate in Madison County in October was 5.8 percent, down from 8 percent in October 2013.
“Looking ahead to 2015, the economic outlook for the number of jobs and the unemployment rate is positive for greater Anderson and Madison County,” Truitt said. “So far this year, 2014 has bucked the downward trend since the 'Great Recession.' The unemployment rate and the number of jobs in Anderson and the Madison County area have improved significantly.”
He said anecdotal evidence of the local economic climate improving can be seen in decisions of several regional business organizations to reinvest locally, including St. Vincent Anderson Regional Hospital, Community Hospital Anderson, Myers Autoworld, Ford Autoworld and Tom Wood Honda.
“Curb appeal matters, too,” Truitt said. “If we want visitors to feel welcome in our home, we need to spruce up our front yard, trim our shrubs, clean off the front porch.”
Improvements in curb appeal could also include the demolition of empty retail buildings and crumbling parking lots that are being replaced with new sidewalks, grass and trees on the west side of Anderson, Truitt said.
“You would be surprised how much of a difference those improvements make when it comes to curb appeal,” he said. “Downtown is spiffing up, too."
The national economy is expected to expand in 2015 about 3 percent, and inflation is expected to remain low, the economists said Tuesday.
Timothy Slaper, research director of the Indiana Business Research Center in the Kelley School, said Indiana gained some 52,000 jobs in 2013. This year, that number was surpassed in September.
He said Indiana could add 55,000 workers in 2015, and the state's unemployment rate should fall to 5.25 percent by the end of the year. It was 5.5 percent in September.