SOUTH ATLANTIC

While Atlanta still suffers and some rural parts of this market are still singing the blues over the crippling loss of manufacturing jobs in the textile, furniture, woodworking and related businesses, with its diverse economic base, healthy government sector and Sunbelt economics, this is still by many measures one of the healthier economic regions in the United States. As measured by the building permits per 1,000 housing starts, five of the 10 fastest-growing housing markets are in Florida: Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Naples, Daytona Beach, Sarasota-Bradenton and Orlando. Other happy economic news includes the $120-million port expansion in Savannah, Ga., which is expected to create 10,800 jobs, and the low office vacancy rates in the nation's capital.

ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS' SALES
(in millions of dollars)EW Estimates Final
1999 Final
2000 Final
2001 Final
2002 Forecast
2003 Forecast
2004South Atlantic 11,455.5 11,689.1 11,450.6 11,503.6 11,914.0 12,646.1Delaware 211.2 215.5 211.1 212.1 219.6 233.1D.C. 105.2 107.3 105.1 105.6 109.4 116.1Florida 4,166.6 4,251.6 4,164.9 4,184.1 4,333.4 4,599.7Georgia 2,234.2 2,279.8 2,233.3 2,243.6 2,323.6 2,466.4Maryland 919.1 937.8 918.7 922.9 955.8 1,014.6North Carolina 1,945.8 1,985.5 1,945.0 1,954.0 2,023.7 2,148.1South Carolina 563.4 574.9 563.2 565.8 586.0 622.0Virginia 1,095.7 1,118.0 1,095.2 1,100.3 1,139.5 1,209.6West Virginia 214.3 218.6 214.2 215.2 222.8 236.5EMPLOYMENT STATISTICSActualin thousands EC M C GSouth Atlantic 152,840^ 2,282.6 13,109.1 3,938.9Delaware 2,882* 34.6 249.4 52.8Dover MSA 403* 3.9 27.5 15.2Wilmington PMSA 2,302* 22.8 192.9 39.8District of Columbia 966* 2.8 324.4 238.4Washington, DC PMSA 18,789* 73.1 1,563.1 615.6Florida 53,844* 388.6 4,326.9 991.8Daytona Beach MSA 1,266* 10.4 104.3 23.4Fort Lauderdale PMSA 5,950* 32.2 425.4 95.4Fort Myers-Cape Coral MSA 2,248* 6.0 107.3 26.1Gainesville MSA 510* 4.2 59.5 38.9Jacksonville MSA 4,626* 33.9 338.8 65.3Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA 1,198* 15.9 101.3 25.0Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay MSA 1,327* 22.9 109.9 26.3Miami-Hialeah 5,898* 56.7 563.0 141.9Orlando MSA 7,550* 40.6 579.1 93.2Pensacola MSA 1,484* 6.9 87.2 26.2Sarasota MSA 1,358* 19.0 188.8 23.7Tallahassee MSA 536* 3.5 69.7 57.5Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA 9,294* 72.7 776.1 138.4West Palm Beach-Boca Raton MSA 4,494* 22.8 346.4 55.3Georgia 28,453 452.0 1,953.8 602.4Albany MSA 788* 7.4 26.8 11.0Athens MSA 383* 8.8 33.0 20.8Atlanta MSA 18,615 162.7 1,189.7 270.4Augusta MSA 875* 24.6 103.2 38.4Columbus MSA 1,251* 13.7 59.0 19.6Macon MSA 956* 15.9 76.5 32.9Savannah MSA 1,197* 13.6 71.9 19.3Maryland 18,881* 152.8 1,391.2 417.4Baltimore PMSA 9,203* 82.6 713.6 208.4Baltimore City NA 22.2 217.3 83.3Suburban Maryland-D.C. NA 37.9 512.1 165.4North Carolina 28,708 606.4 1,819.4 586.4Asheville MSA 1,042* 14.4 59.1 14.0Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill MSA 5,876* 107.6 403.0 92.7Greensboro-Winston-Salem MSA 4,665* 122.6 308.9 65.7Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill MSA 5,198* 69.1 338.9 130.5South Carolina 11,174 275.0 859.3 296.5Charleston MSA 2,741* 18.3 135.9 48.8Columbia MSA 2,059* 23.1 147.9 71.3Greenville-Spartanburg MSA 4,188* 96.5 213.7 55.4Virginia 21,994 304.4 1,832.0 615.6Bristol 134* 8.4 19.2 5.5Charlottesville MSA 598* 4.8 41.4 24.9Danville MSA 122* 10.8 20.3 6.4Lynchburg MSA 631* 17.9 47.6 12.9Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News MSA 3,700* 58.9 386.5 146.8Northern Virginia 7,248* 28.8 699.1 194.9Richmond-Petersburg MSA 3,462* 46.4 300.3 106.3Roanoke MSA 842* 16.0 76.1 16.5West Virginia 2,938 66.0 352.7 137.6Charleston MSA 705* 8.1 67.1 24.5Huntington-Ashland MSA 529* 10.9 66.4 18.9Parkersburg-Marietta MSA 164* 10.3 36.4 9.4Wheeling MSA 217* 5.1 37.0 9.8