Leading economic indicators edge upward in October

By PBN Staff
Twitter: @ProvBusNews

PROVIDENCE – An index of Rhode Island’s leading economic indicators produced by Providence Business News and e-forecasting.com rose to 120.6 in October.

A reading of 100 on the Providence Business News/e-forecasting.com Leading Economic Indicator Index is equivalent to the state’s activity in 2000.

The state leading indicator rose 0.3 percent again in October after rising 0.3 percent in September.

The economic indicator index uses nine statistics to forecast the direction of the state’s economy over the next three to six months. Positive numbers signal growth while negative numbers denote contraction.

Six of the nine statistics had positive contributions to the index in September, including: unemployment claims, weekly hours in manufacturing, regional consumer expectations, interest rate speed, the national orders index and the state employment barometer.

Three components made negative contributions to Rhode Island’s economy in September, including: building permits, exports of manufacturers and national stock prices.

In October, Rhode Island’s six-month growth rate – “a signal of turning points” – was 3.5 percent, a decrease from the revised 3.7 percent rate in September.

By comparison, the long-term annual growth rate for the index was 2 percent, the same as the annual growth rate of the state’s overall economic activity.