UA’s Alabama Economic Outlook Offers Glimpse of 2000; Conference Set for Jan. 27

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — In 2000 Alabama’s economy is expected to grow by 3.1 percent and to add about 18,000 new jobs. Most job growth will be in retailing, services, and construction. Unemployment should average 4.7 percent, slightly higher than the predicted U.S. rate of 4.4 percent. Income growth in the state will be modest.

These forecasts and other detailed economic sector and metropolitan area information are included in the Alabama Economic Outlook 2000, which will be available at the upcoming annual University of Alabama Economic Outlook Conference.

The conference, hosted by the UA Center for Business and Economic Research, is set for Jan. 27 at the RSA Plaza Terrace in Montgomery. The registration fee is $95, which includes the Outlook, conference materials, and lunch. Call 205/348-6191 to register. For those not able to attend the conference, the Outlook can be purchased for $18.

Conference speakers include:

Kurt Karl, executive vice president, global services, The WEFA Group, who will discuss the U.S. outlook;
Carl Ferguson, director, UA Center for Business and Economic Research, who will assess Alabama’s economic outlook; and
Ira Harvey, financial project manager, President’s Office of Governmental Relations at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who will review Alabama’s revenue outlook.

The luncheon address will focus on the future of economic development in Alabama.

Corporate sponsors for this year’s conference include Alabama Power Co., Compass Bank, Energen Corp., Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc. and Vulcan Materials Co.

The Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER), a part of UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, is Alabama’s central reservoir for business, economic, and demographic data. Since its creation in 1930, CBER has engaged in research programs to promote economic development in the state, while continuously expanding and refining its broad base of socioeconomic information. To forecast the level of activity in Alabama, CBER developed an econometric model of the state. Beginning in 1980, output from the model has been published in the annual Alabama Economic Outlook series.