Pensacola on the Hunt for Business

Tucked into the western end of Florida's Panhandle, Pensacola is geographically and economically removed from the epicenters of the Sunshine State's early 21st-century economic rise and fall.

Rather than the real estate sweep-stakes that inflated and then punctured economies in cities like Miami and Fort Myers, Pensacola's livelihood depends on steadier business. Sprawling Naval Air Station Pensacola, health care, and tourism are economic staples. Certainly, Pensacola has grown, but its growth has been muted compared with the state overall. From 2000 to 2010, Pensacola's population increased half as fast as Florida's. As statewide median home prices tripled before 2007, metro Pensacola's merely doubled. The area has experienced a softer landing, however, as foreclosure rates are about half those of Florida overall.

Bruised but not battered

Nevertheless, Pensacola hardly escaped the recession. The metro area's total nonfarm employment at the end of 2011, down about 15,000 from its high, equaled that of 2003. December's unemployment rate of 9.6 percent was higher than the national level and not much below the statewide rate of 9.9 percent. Yet as 2012 dawned, local observers and business leaders expressed a renewed sense of optimism about Pensacola's prospects. …

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