UC in store for a lackluster holiday report?

UPPER CUMBERLAND – While optimism usually abounds after year-end shopping sales, early indications point to a lackluster holiday performance for the Upper Cumberland thus far.

That’s at least based off recent state sales tax data for December. The numbers, which reflect November activity, show a 2.4 percent gain for the region, but more than half of the 14 counties saw decreases in collections year-to-year. The state fared not much better, improving 2.5 percent overall, topping $577 million for the month.

“We need to keep in mind that the holiday shopping season was cut short because Thanksgiving came so late this year,” said Henry Bowman, an analyst with the Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD), which compiles the local data. “That probably cut into the numbers a little bit. What’s encouraging is Putnam County was considerably higher than the state average, 5.6 versus 2.5. But for the region as a whole, it pretty much matches the state rate.”

Following Putnam’s lead in outpacing the state were Cumberland (4.4), Macon (4.5), Smith (8.5) and Van Buren (19.3). The only other county in the black was Warren, with a 1.6 percent gain.

The rest of the region was down, including double-digit drops in White (-11.8), Cannon (-10.5) and Clay (-10.2) as well as decreases in Pickett (-5.1), Overton (-4.7), Jackson (-4.0), Fentress (-3.5) and DeKalb (-1.4).

Collections, which are considered just one measure of economic activity, are based on state sales taxes; local option taxes are excluded.

Source: Compiled by the Upper Cumberland Development District from data published by the Tennessee Department of Revenue.