Odessa Economy: “Moving into 2018 with Considerable Growth Momentum”

The Odessa Economic Index for December 2017 reported another monthly increase, ending the year at 114.9. The result is an increase from the 113.0 reported in November. West Texas economist Karr Ingham indicated that the OEI had increased all 12 months of 2017, and “the Odessa economy is clearly moving into 2018 with considerable growth momentum.”

Ingham’s year-end analysis pointed out that the economic recovery in 2017 followed an “oil-induced contraction” that lasted 21 months. Over that time, the OEI had declined by 18.6%. Meanwhile, all components of the index posted strong annual improvement in 2017.

Though total construction and home-building fell in December, other index components increased. These included general real spending, automobile sales activity, existing home sales (which posted a record by exceeding 1,300 in 2017) and total real-dollar volume of home sales, which also increased.

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