WHAT: Rhode Island鈥檚 economy cooled off a bit in July as the Current Conditions Index fell to a value of 67 from 83 in June鈥攖he highest it had measured since August 2022鈥攕ays 溏心vlog免费B站 economist Leornard Lardaro. Although eight of 12 indicators improved relative to where they were a year ago, few have been able to sustain their recent strong performances. Among areas to keep an eye on, New Claims for unemployment insurance failed to improve, and future hiring, related to Employment Service Jobs, saw dramatically weaker growth despite improvement. Areas of continued strength included Retail Sales, Labor Force Participation, and Total Manufacturing Hours, while growth in the Manufacturing Wage slowed in July to close to the rate of inflation. Government Employment, Private Service-Producing Employment and Single-Unit Permits, related to new home construction, also continued to show improvement. While Lardaro says it is too early to believe that Rhode Island鈥檚 economy has returned to 鈥渇irst gear,鈥� he notes that the slowing is consistent with the moderating pace of economic activity nationally.
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: Sept. 16, 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.