PROVIDENCE – An index of Rhode Island’s leading economic indicators produced by Providence Business News and e-forecasting.com rose 0.2 percent in June to 122.2 from 122.1 in May. The change showed slowing growth for the state, which registered an increase of 0.3 percent in May over April.
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 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.
Three components made positive contributions to Rhode Island’s economy in June, including: unemployment claims, regional consumer expectations and the interest rate spread.
Six of the nine statistics had negative contributions to the index in June, including: weekly hours in manufacturing, building permits, exports of manufacturers, national stock prices, the national orders index and the state’s employment barometer.
In June, Rhode Island’s six-month growth rate – “a signal of turning points” – was 2.5 percent, a slight increase from April’s revised 2.3 percent rate.
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.
