The Broookings Institute has ranked Tampa 30th out of 100 U.S. metro areas in how much it's economy has improved in the last quarter.
A year ago the Institute said Tampa as one of the weakest metro areas.
But the latest MetroMonitor analysis ranks the city 30th overall. Tampa also was 9th best in unemployment recovery and 14th best in housing prices.
University of Tampa Economics Professor Lee Hoke says the report is a double-edged sword. That's because the area's economy has a lot of ground to make up.
"If you fall harder, you've got further to get up. And that is what has happened, both in terms of losses in employment and increasing unemployment," Hoke said. "And so what it means is we're catching up."
Overall, the report shows a slowdown in output and employment throughout the U.S.'s metro areas.
