Tampa Bay’s key attributes remain a magnet for employers and residents in spite of recent challenges
During the fourth quarter, the Tampa Bay region endured two major hurricanes that caused unprecedented damage to commercial and residential properties, including a construction crane toppling onto a Class A office building in St. Petersburg during Hurricane Milton making it untenable for the foreseeable future. In addition, the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays Tropicana Field was ripped off during the storm and, as a result, the team had to lease 41,000 square feet (sf) in a nearby office building for its front-office operations. Despite these challenges, the region, and its residents, have shown remarkable resilience and determination as they rebuild and recover. Tampa Bay continues to show strong employment numbers. Office-using job growth rose 0.4% year over year, driven by an uptick in total nonfarm jobs of 0.6%. The region added more than 26,000 jobs between the second quarter of 2023 to 2024 and more than 200,000 since 2020.