CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall talked about the local economy in the wake of recent workforce reductions in Chattanooga at VW, Wacker, Miller Industries, TVA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and others. Topics included the national manufacturing slowdown and what it means locally, the effects of tariffs, and whether wages in Tennessee have been…
9/13/25: Hamilton County Employers Cutting Staff as Nationwide Signs Point to ‘Economic Cooling’
CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall was featured in a story about the signs of a cooling local labor market: Across the United States, manufacturing has slowed for the past two years, Wall said, and that has probably been a bit more pronounced locally. “It’s been a negative for a full year for Chattanooga,”…
9/11/25: Report: Tennesseans May Not Be Sharing in State’s Success
CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall provided comments about a report outlining ways in which Tennessee’s economic success might not be felt by everyone. Howard Wall, an economist based at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said looking at only some costs, rather than at the inflation rate across all goods, can provide a skewed…
8/14/25: CRER Releases Summer Forecast of Chattanooga Metro Employment
The CRER produces quarterly forecasts of the growth of nonfarm payroll employment in the Chattanooga MSA. Forecasts depend on the consensus forecast of the U.S. economy from the Blue Chip Economic Indicator survey. Our new forecast is a net gain of one thousand jobs in the third quarter, and for growth to slowly return to…
8/11/25: Chattanooga Officials Seek Budget Solutions to Fund $18M Raises
News Channel 9 had a story on the ongoing debate about the new city property tax rate and funding raises for police and firefighters. CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall had this to say: UTC economist Howard Wall says part of what’s complicating the budget is rising property values.“The tax rate is automatically lowered…