Buoyed by everything from a big cut in tax rates to the performance of the stock market of late, Mike McManus, co-founder of wealth management firm McManus Reilly Financial, says his clients have been acknowledging a resurgence in optimism these days. About everything from the economy to the state of their own financial affairs – a sentiment that the latest data and local economic indicators helps underscore.

When digging into the latest Memphis-area real estate trends, for example, some motivation for that optimism becomes apparent. Residential sales and commercial sales volume, for example, were both up in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2017, according to data from real estate information company Chandler Reports. Over that same time span, new home permits were down, though the average price has roughly held steady.

Meanwhile, through February the unemployment rate in the Memphis metropolitan statistical area is down almost 4 percent since March of 2014.

This is the kind of data we’ve packaged into The Daily News’ latest Economic Overview, a regular compilation of stats and data points meant to provide a quantitative snapshot of the Memphis-area economy and ultimately a better understanding of the business environment.