WHAT: University of Rhode Island economist Leonard Lardaro expressed disappointment at the state’s economic performance in October. While the state had shown forward momentum for the previous three months, Rhode Island’s Current Conditions Index fell to a neutral value of 50 in October. While not the end of the world, Lardaro noted it as a setback for Rhode Island’s economic momentum, adding that it marks the 14th consecutive month in which the state failed to exceed its year earlier CCI-value. Despite this Retail Sales remain very strong compared to where they were a year ago and the state’s Labor Force improved on a yearly basis for the second consecutive month. U.S. Consumer Sentiment, Manufacturing Wage and Government Employment also improved. Of concern were drops in Single-Use Permits and Private Service Producing Employment. Though Lardaro acknowledged several strong indicator improvements in October, combined with those that failed to improve, they have not yet been enough for the state to emerge from its “statistical recession.” 

WHO: URI Professor of Economics Leonard Lardaro, creator and author of the Current Conditions Index.

WHEN: Dec. 12, 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 12 indicators.