WHAT: Despite signs of a potential breakout in February, 溏心vlog免费B站 economist Leonard Lardaro says the state economy remains stuck in first gear. According to Lardaro, the Current Conditions Index value fell from 67 in February to 58 in March鈥搘here it has more or less stagnated since August 2023. While aggregate numbers show little momentum, Lardaro pointed to some positive movement in terms of payroll enrollment (the number of Rhode Island jobs) and resident employment (the number of employed Rhode Island residents), which have surpassed their pre-pandemic levels, along with the Labor Force CCI indicator, which has increased each month since November. CCI indicators Retail Sales, Total Manufacturing Hours and Manufacturing Wage also continue to show strength. He notes that while seven of 12 indicators improved relative to their position a year ago, three important indicators鈥擭ew Claims for unemployment insurance, Employment Service Jobs and Benefits Exhaustion鈥攈ave shown weakness. Despite this, Government Employment, Retail Sales, Private Service-Producing Employment and U.S. Consumer Sentiment were among other indicators showing improvement.
HOW: Use attached information, including summary and charts prepared by Lardaro for news reports. He is available for broadcast and print interviews. Lardaro will be blogging about the new labor data during the coming weeks. Additional information and historical data available online: .
WHEN: May 10, 2024
FOR INFORMATION: Leonard Lardaro, office, 401-874-4128, home, 401-783-9563.
Dawn Bergantino, 溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Communications and Marketing, 401-874-4147.
BACKGROUND: The Current Conditions Index, created by Lardaro, measures the strength of the present economic climate in Rhode Island by following the behavior of 12 indicators.