Reso 2006-959 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The largest employer in Miami-Dade County is the Miami-Dade County School Board, followed by Miami-Dade County, Federal Government, State of Florida, American Airlines, University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Baptist Health Systems of South Florida, Bell South, and Florida Power and Light. Assuming additional importance is the growing prominence of Miami- Dade County as a center for international trade, finance and tourism. The establishment of Miami as the "Gateway of the Americas" should provide the area with a much needed degree of economic diversification. This should enable Miami-Dade County to weather slowdowns in the national economy by an increase of trade through the Port of Miami, growth of international arrivals at the airport, the Free Trade Zone, and the substantial foreign investment in the local economy, particularly in real estate. In December of 2005, Florida's unemployment rate was 3.3 percent, down from 4.6 percent of the previous year, but still below the national average of 4.7 percent. In December of 2005, the unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County was 5.4 percent, down from 6.2 percent in 2003. Income Over the past few years, the average per capita personal income in Miami-Dade County has been slightly lower than the per capita income for Florida, as well as the nation. TABLE2 PER CAPITA PERSONAL INCOME SELECTED YEARS (CURRENT $) Year 2001 2002 2003 UNITED STATES 30,413 30,906 31,632 FLORIDA 29,048 29,596 30,446 MIAMI MSA 32,025 32,493 33,094 Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis and Miami-Dade County Planning Department Tourism Table 3 reveals a steady increase in the number of tourists visiting Miami-Dade County since 1990. The number of international visitors increased approximately 100% from 1985 to 1995. Due to the soft domestic eeonomy, the number of domestic visitors had declined from 1989 to 1993; however, from 1995 to 2000 there has been a 1.5% average annual increase. QUINLIVAN APPRAISAL 12