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| The Center for Strategic Economic Research (CSER) developed the Prosperity Index in 2005 to provide business and community leaders in the Sacramento Region a valuable tool to measure regional economic prosperity and track its performance against competitors in order to evaluate the competition, identify opportunities for improvement, and ultimately impact change in the Region. Along with the national average, 12 competitor regions were chosen as benchmarks for this analysis based on feedback from economic development organizations regarding metropolitan areas that often compete with the Region for business location and expansion projects. CSER updates the Prosperity Index and all related elements annually. The Economy element (previously referred to as the Business component) is updated quarterly through SACTO's Quarterly Economic Report in order to allow for more frequent evaluations of the local business climate.
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The Sacramento Region placed ninth on the 2012 PROSPERITY INDEX with an overall score of 7.8 out of a possible 10. The Region demonstrated strong performance on the Sustainability element along with a moderate score on the Residents element. However, these strengths were offset by a somewhat low score on the Livability element and a last place ranking on the Economy element. Overall, the Sacramento Region maintained a middle of the pack competitive position among the regions it competes with regularly for business location and expansion projects. Sacramento's workforce and clean tech strengths stand out in the measures along with the lingering negative effects of the severe recession.
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The Sacramento Region's score of 3.3 out of a possible 10 on the Economy element places it last among the competitor regions, clearly reflecting the relatively slow recovery in the regional economy. Sacramento dropped two places since 2011, falling below the two California regions at the bottom of the list last year, the Inland Empire and Stockton. Compared to its primary competitor regions, the Sacramento Region presents a weak competitive position in most measures of overall economic conditions.
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