Wichita's economy outperformed the U.S. economy in 2008, according to the 30th Annual Wichita Area Economic Outlook Conference, held Thursday, Oct. 1 and presented by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University.

Other information released showed that Wichita's employment grew at 1.9 percent last year, while the nation declined 0.4 percent.

Early this year, Wichita's growth expectations waned as the recession began to affect the area. From January through August, Wichita's employment registered a decline of 1.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

National employment decreased 3.7 percent in the same period. Although Wichita's decline has been less severe than the nation, continued employment loss is expected through 2009, for an annual average decline of 1.7 percent, with a slowing annual average decline expected in 2010 of 1.2 percent.

Preceding the local forecast were presentations on the global financial crisis by John A. Allison, chairman of BB&T Corp.; the national outlook by Alan D. Barkema, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; the energy industry by Mike Jennings, president and CEO of Frontier Oil Corp.; composite research by Paul H. Wooley, research director of the Orthopaedic Research Institute, Via Christi Medical Center; and Wichita's real estate market by Stanley D. Longhofer, director of the Center for Real Estate in WSU's W. Frank Barton School of Business.

Jeremy Hill

Speaker presentations are available at www.wichita.edu/cedbr, as well as a copy of the center's 2009 review and 2010 forecast report.