WHAT: Rhode Island’s economy continued to show signs of slowing in November, says University of Rhode Island Economist Leonard Lardaro, with the Current Conditions Index dropping from 75 to 67. While eight of 12 key CCI indicators showed improvement, their rate of growth has slowed. Further, those four indicators which failed to improve – U.S. Consumer Sentiment, Single-Unit Permits, Employment Service Jobs and New Claims for unemployment insurance, leading economic indicators – remained weak. Employment Service Jobs declined sharply after four months of improvement and 2 additional indicators – Retail Sales and Total Manufacturing Hours – slowed substantially. Although this was the 17th consecutive month in which Rhode Island’s economy expanded (a CCI above 50), Lardaro states the weakening of these indicators calls into question how rapid the pace of economic growth will be through the end of 2022 and into 2023.
WHO: URI Professor of Economics Leonard Lardaro, creator and author of the Current Conditions Index.
WHEN: Jan. 11, 2023
HOW: Use attached information, including summary and charts prepared by Lardaro for news reports. He is available for broadcast and print interviews. Lardaro will be blogging about the new labor data during the coming weeks. Additional information and historical data available online: http://www.llardaro.com/current.htm.
FOR INFORMATION: Leonard Lardaro, office, 401-874-4128, home, 401-783-9563.
Dawn Bergantino, URI Department of Communications and Marketing, 401-874-4147. BACKGROUND: The Current Conditions Index, created by Lardaro, measures the strength of the present economic climate in Rhode Island by following the behavior of