SOUTH KINGSTOWN – January’s economic momentum sagged – an inauspicious start to 2015, Leonard Lardaro, an economist with the University of Rhode Island, said last week.
The Current Conditions Index, which measures economic momentum using 12 key indicators, registered 58, not much above the level of 50. Indices higher than 50 suggest economic growth, while a value below 50 indicates contraction.
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The figure of 58 comes on the heels of R.I. Department of Labor and Training revisions to unemployment rates and other data, which in itself provides a mix of good and not-so-good news, Lardaro says.
On the positive side, due to the revisions, payroll employment, the number of jobs in the state (not including the self-employed or those Rhode Islanders working out of state), performed better than originally reported in 2014, returning to 2008 levels, Lardaro said. Yet, the state’s employment peaked in December 2006, more than eight years ago, and only about two-thirds of the jobs lost since then have been replaced, he said.
The labor force, which reflects employed and unemployed people available for work, was down 1.1 percent in January, Lardaro said.
