!['ONE REASON for [the economy's] mediocre performance was the old weather and snow,' Lardaro said. That, and the otherwise strong performance of many of his index's 12 indicators, 'leads me to conclude that Rhode Island's economic momentum was stronger in February than [the CCI] indicates.' /](https://assets.pbn.com/uploads/2007/04/1173725710.jpg "'ONE REASON for [the economy's] mediocre performance was the old weather and snow,' Lardaro said. That, and the otherwise strong performance of many of his index's 12 indicators, 'leads me to conclude that Rhode Island's economic momentum was stronger in February than [the CCI] indicates.' /")
KINGSTON – Data “paint a mixed picture of Rhode Island’s economic performance” in February, University of Rhode Island economist Leonard Lardaro said in his monthly report, which was released today.
“The Current Conditions Index was unchanged from its January value of 58, with 7 of 12 indicators improving,” Lardaro said. His economic index remained above the neutral score of 50 points, indicating that the state economy continued to grow.
“One reason for [the CCI’s] mediocre performance was the cold weather and snow that adversely affected some indicators,” Lardaro added. Hardest-hit were single-unit permits for new housing construction, which fell 42.7 percent. Also worsening in February were new unemployment claims, rising 11.6 percent; manufacturing hours, down 2.7 percent; retail sales, down 1.5 percent; and government employment, down 1.4 percent.
Improving in February from their year-ago levels were employment services jobs, rising 14.6 percent, in the category’s fifth consecutive double-digit increase; private service producing employment, rising 2.5 percent; the unemployment rate, declining 15.4 percent from the state’s year-ago rate of 5.2 percent; jobless benefits exhaustion (a measure of long-term unemployment), declining 5.2 percent; the state’s labor force, growing 0.9 percent; the average manufacturing wage, rising 1.3 percent; and the private U.S. Consumer Sentiment index, rising 5.0 percent.
“February’s data paint a mixed picture of Rhode Island’s economic performance,” Lardaro said. “While there were strong and weak indicator performances, some of the weakness was weather-related. This fact, along with the solid indicator performances, leads me to conclude that Rhode Island’s economic momentum was stronger in February than what the CCI value indicates.”
The Current Conditions Index, created by Lardaro, measures the strength of the state’s economic climate; values above 50 indicate the economy is expanding. Additional information, including historic data, is available at members.cox.net/lardaro/current.
