CLICK HERE. / " title="THE CURRENT CONDITIONS INDEX remained at 58 in April, the same value as in March. For a larger version of this image, CLICK HERE. /"/>SOUTH KINGSTOWN – “Rhode Island began the second quarter in much the same way it ended the first: continued slowing in its rate of economic growth,” said Leonard Lardaro, University of Rhode Island economist, in delivering his “Current Conditions Index” for April.
Lardaro’s Current Conditions Index was 58 in April – the same value as in March – as seven of the 12 indicators improved.
The index tracks the state’s economic performance through national and local economic indicators. A reading below 50 indicates economic contraction, while above it signifies expansion. In January and February, the CCI registered a 67.
“In fairness, six indicators had very lofty values to beat from last year,” said Lardaro, noting that four of them still managed to improve in April, including: total manufacturing hours, rising an “incredible” 6.1 percent; manufacturing wage, up 5 percent; benefits exhaustions, down by 10 percent; and the unemployment rate, down 0.8 percentage points from a year ago.
The “sharp” drop in the unemployment rate is not necessarily good news, Lardaro said, since the labor force failed to improve for the third consecutive month, reflecting unemployed persons dropping out of the labor force and lowering the jobless rate.
The five indicators weighing negatively on the index were: government employment; U.S. consumer sentiment; single-unit housing permits; employment services jobs; and the labor force.
“Headwinds remain, both cyclical, most notably the adverse effects of food and energy prices, and structural, balancing our state’s budget and dealing with pension woes,” Lardaro said. “All of this will prove to be quite a challenge for Rhode Island, as the need to deal with the longer-term, something seldom done here, take on ever-increasing urgency.”
