TAMPA, Fla. — The Federal Reserve is prepared today for another interest rate hike which experts believe will be lower than four previous hikes of .75%.

But even an expected .5% rate hike has some employers considering if rising rates will cause an economic slowdown that may impact their bottom lines.

With fears of layoffs in 2023, Tampa Bay Business Journal reporter Alexis Muellner offered insight into what major Tampa area employers are doing to prepare for an uncertain new year.

“The cost of money is, it goes up," Muellner said. "And that makes it expensive for them to develop new projects and make new acquisitions and add new personnel to their budgets, and a lot of those businesses are planning right now."

But Muellner says that planning locally is more cautiously optimistic than other parts of the country.

The pandemic helped flood the Tampa area with new residents that moved from out-of-state, and that growth is helping to fuel more business activity and jobs.

“We are seeing tremendous growth here and so part of that comes from just," Muellner said. "It's business friendly, it's quality of life issue, and we saw a lot of exodus in the pandemic here and that is giving us some insulation to some of the constant national trends that raise concerns about jobs."

Aside from population growth, Visit Tampa Bay is expecting a record number of visitors in 2023, and record convention business.

That means one of Hillsborough County's largest employment cores, hospitality and tourism, is expected to keep growing in 2023.

Currently, Visit Tampa Bay says tourism and hospitality represents 8% of Hillsbrough County's total employment.