Retail sales in Escambia County, hard-hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, continue a strong comeback, sharing gains with Santa Rosa County -- and that's notwithstanding Santa Rosa's 3% drop in July, when Hurricane Dennis landed.

Retail Sales (Charge from same period a year earlier.)
	Escambia County	Santa Rosa County	All Florida Counties
September 2004	-7.4%	+3.9%	-2.0%
Q4 2004	+23.6	+36.0	+10.8
Jan.-July 2005	+24.6	+26.6	+18.6
Source: Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development, University of West Florida