TAMPA - Compared with five other Southern metropolitan economies, the Tampa Bay area no longer ranks last.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that the Bay area's improved ranking has more to do with a steep decline elsewhere, said Gary Sasso, chief executive of the Carlton Fields law firm and business intelligence chairman for the Tampa Bay Partnership.

On Tuesday, the partnership, which is a local economic development agency, released its spring regional economic scorecard. The twice yearly report also comes out in the fall.

Overall, the Bay area ranked third among the six metro areas on the new scorecard, an improvement over its last-place finish in fall 2008. As usual, the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina finished first in the ranking. Dallas took second place. The Bay area and Atlanta tied for third, followed by Jacksonville and Charlotte, N.C.

The Bay area was helped by its troubled real estate market. In the past, rapidly rising housing prices hurt a key measurement on the ranking, housing affordability. A big drop in housing prices helped boost the Bay area to third in the scorecard's housing comparison, where it previously ranked sixth.

The Bay area also improved in the employment and work force measurement, rising to fourth on the spring scorecard from sixth in the fall. The Bay area's labor market continued to suffer, but the labor markets in Atlanta and Charlotte fell harder. Charlotte ranked last in the employment and work force measurement because of job losses in banking.

The Bay area ranked third overall in economic strength, but it varied in strength on the scorecard's six measurements. Among those factors, the Bay area ranked fourth in employment and work force, fourth in income and productivity, third in housing, fifth in innovation, third in education and fourth in transportation.

Reporter Michael Sasso, who is not related to Gary Sasso, can be reached at (813) 259-7865.