WDEF in Chattanooga has a story about the recently released CRER forecast for the Chattanooga economy. They spoke with CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall:
Dr. Wall said, “Manufacturing has been slow for a couple of years and that’s nationally not just locally, although there’s special cases locally, and manufacturing has not been helped at all by tariffs, despite that being the stated purpose of them.”
However, he does say that investment in new technologies could set up the Chattanooga area for a resurgence in new jobs in the years to come.
Dr. Wall said, “We are at the cutting edge of a few industries like like quantum and we know we have the fastest network. There are a lot of things that we can take advantage of as long as the national economy picks up.”
He says that ultimately, these job growth numbers, while below average, could be a sign of a strengthening economy.
Dr. Wall said, “2025 was a pretty weak year and we should be recovering through 2026 if the national economy is fine. It’ll take a few quarters so the next quarter that we’re in now probably still be pretty weak. Second quarter, a little bit stronger and then by the fourth quarter and into 2027, hopefully will be back to normal.”