MIDDLE ATLANTIC

2005 SALES FORECAST +6.8% MIDDLE ATLANTIC

What a difference a year makes. The New York metropolitan area posted solid gains in office construction and employment, and 2005 looks even better. The Big Apple will enjoy the construction of million-square-foot trophy jobs for the foreseeable future, including a $400 million headquarters for The New York Times and an enormous office tower for Bank of America in midtown. The 1.7-million-square-foot 7 World Trade Center is scheduled to open in December 2005, and a total of five office towers with 10 million square feet of office and retail space at the World Trade Center site are on the drawing boards and expected to open in 2010. Across the Hudson, New Jersey has absorbed millions of square feet of office space during the past year. The Garden State is getting a reputation as the Warehouse State. With easy interstate access to all parts of the most densely populated region of the United States, huge warehouses are sprouting up along Exit 8A on the New Jersey Turnpike, and the area has become one of the leading warehousing hubs in the nation.

ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS' SALES
(in millions of dollars)EW Estimates Final Final Final Final Forecast Forecast 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Middle Atlantic 11,049.8 10,571.3 10,409.1 10,492.7 12,395.2 13,236.4 New Jersey 3,064.6 2,931.9 2,886.9 2,910.0 3,437.7 3,671.0 New York 4,570.2 4,372.3 4,305.2 4,339.8 5,126.6 5,474.5 Pennsylvania 3,415.1 3,267.2 3,217.0 3,242.9 3,830.9 4,090.8 EMPLOYMENT STATISTICSActualin thousands EC M C G Middle Atlantic s110,681 1,639.8 10,973.8 2,716.5 New Jersey 25,818 346.3 2,421.9 606.6 Atlantic City PMSA 1,288 5.8 154.0 31.8 Bergen-Passaic PMSA 3,900 70.6 393.2 75.1 Camden NA 46.2 314.9 80.0 Jersey City PMSA 827 13.8 142.7 39.0 Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon PMSA 3,600 72.7 370.7 80.2 Monmouth-Ocean PMSA 3,037 16.6 286.8 67.5 Newark PMSA 8,670 98.3 586.4 154.2 Trenton PMSA 578 8.7 134.2 62.3 Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton PMSA 295 9.9 28.4 13.5 New York 54,218 596.1 5,173.0 1,424.0 Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA NA 26.6 267.0 105.7 Binghamton MSA 507 17.7 57.6 20.8 Buffalo MSA 1,994 65.9 311.6 92.5 Dutchess County PMSA 694 16.4 69.2 21.9 Elmira MSA 244 6.5 22.0 7.0 Glens Falls MSA 202 7.2 34.1 9.7 Nassau-Suffolk PMSA 8,890 85.9 755.0 185.8 New York- Northern NJ-Long Island PMSA NA 633.3 6,012.2 1,475.6 New York PMSA NA 150.4 2,664.6 645.5 New York City 27,740 118.6 2,322.7 555.4 Newburgh PMSA 1,022 8.6 80.4 27.9 Putnam County NA 1.3 15.5 4.6 Rochester MSA 2,770 81.8 304.1 80.7 Rockland County NA 11.6 66.2 19.4 Syracuse MSA 1,371 36.8 194.4 59.9 Utica-Rome MSA 392 14.2 71.8 31.2 Westchester County NA 18.9 260.2 66.1 Pennsylvania 30,645 697.4 3,378.9 685.9 Allentown-Bethlehem MSA 1,579 40.5 169.8 30.3 Altoona MSA 371 8.4 33.5 8.4 Erie MSA 696 24.8 76.2 14.6 Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle MSA NA 35.8 204.1 68.4 Johnstown MSA 418 9.0 51.6 13.4 Lancaster MSA 1,478 46.3 123.7 18.3 Philadelphia PMSA 15,468 213.9 1,533.5 285.3 Philadelphia City NA 31.3 449.5 112.6 Pittsburgh MSA 7,410 105.6 709.5 113.3 Reading MSA 1,181 30.8 90.5 18.9 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre MSA NA 42.0 156.2 34.5 Sharon MSA 86 8.6 28.8 5.3 State College MSA 330 5.0 30.4 26.7 Williamsport MSA 225 12.8 27.0 6.9 York MSA 1,008 38.0 85.1 16.4