WHAT: After falling into a period of aggregate weakness, Rhode Island’s economy is perking up, says University of Rhode Island economist Leonard Lardaro. The creator of the Current Conditions Index points to a November CCI of 58, an expansion value and an improvement over what we have seen throughout most of 2023. There were several encouraging indicator performances including Single-Unit Permits, Retail Sales, Manufacturing Wage, Government Employment and–according to Lardaro, most importantly–Labor Force, which rose not only on a monthly, but also a yearly basis. He cautioned, however, that three of five leading indicators–New Claims for Unemployment, Employment Service Jobs, and Total Manufacturing Hours–failed to improve. This improving momentum may be enough to move Rhode Island out of its statistical recession, says Lardaro, who adds that upcoming revisions to labor market data will help shed additional light on how much underlying economic momentum the state possesses.

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

WHEN: Jan. 11, 2024

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.