Local Banker: Economy Improving Slowly, Steadily

The national and local economies are improving slowly but steadily, with several indicators suggesting improved job growth and new spending, a local bank executive said Tuesday.

Mike Livingston, Bank of Glen Burnie president and CEO, said he was as bullish about the economy as he has been in more than three years, despite some lingering uncertainty.

“It looks pretty good for us, it really does,” Livingston said at a breakfast meeting at with members of the

Livingston pointed to a number of economic figures from the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp. indicating the local economy is on the upswing.

• The unemployment rate in November 2011 was 5.8 percent, a full point lower than at the end of 2010 and significantly better than the rates for all of Maryland and the nation.
• There were 805 residential building permits issued in the third quarter of 2011, up from 348 the year prior.
• Existing home sales rose from 1,284 to 1,323, a 3 percent increase from the third quarter of 2010.
• During the first three quarters of 2011, gross receipts from hotel taxes were $11,482,926, an increase of 3.7 percent.
• The office vacancy rate in the county dropped from 12.4 percent in the third quarter of 2010 to 11.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011.

Livingston’s relatively optimistic comments were in contrast , when he described the economy as “gray.”

But he said there remain some areas of concern especially stemming from the debt crisis in Europe and the impact of technology on job growth.

“Because of technology, less people are required,” he said. “It’s not because of the economy, it’s because we can do more with less.”

Livingston said he believed Anne Arundel County was insulated from the worst economic problems because of the heavy presence of the federal government and growth at Fort Meade. The nearby presence of BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport also has propped up the economy, he said.

“Anne Arundel County is and was protected in down times,” he said. “In a down time, we have insulation.”

Livingston also said he was not concerned about the potential for big cuts in defense spending by the federal government, because Fort Meade agencies including the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command would be relatively unaffected.