PROVIDENCE – Citizens Bank’s Business Conditions Index for Rhode Island increased 2.7% year over year to a value of 61.8 in the fourth quarter, the bank announced on Wednesday.
Rhode Island’s value was higher than the bank’s national Business Condition Index value of 61, which experienced a 0.3% year-over-year decline. Rhode Island’s value was also higher than for the entirety of Citizens Bank’s footprint in the Northeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, which had an index value of 56.2 in the fourth quarter, reflecting a 2.1% decline year over year.
An index greater than 50 indicates expansion and is a reflection of expected improvement in business growth for the next quarter, according to the bank.
“Progress toward the first phase of a China trade deal, more clarity around Brexit, improved consumer spending and a stable rate environment took some of the uncertainty off the table for business leaders in the fourth quarter,” said Tony Bedikian, head of global markets for Citizens Commercial Banking on the national index performance. “Of course, this quarter the coronavirus is having an impact on certain sectors and markets, but the overall economic trend so far is still positive.”
Eighty percent of the index is based on public data, such as ISM Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing, Unemployment and Wage Growth numbers. Twenty percent of the index is based on metrics related to the business activity of the bank’s commercial clients.
