BRAC is producing a weekly economic indicator dashboard as part of our business recovery priorities. The dashboard examines and assesses the impact of COVID-19 on the regional economy, taking into account a number of data points to illustrate the economy’s current state, and to keep businesses informed until it begins to steady and as it rebounds. Past dashboards are archived on brac.org/recovery.
Key takeaways from this week’s dashboard include:
- Retail fuel sales have begun to slightly recover both across the state and in the Capital Region. However, the extension of the Stay at Home Order will continue to suppress retail fuel sales for the next few weeks;
- Hotel revenues are down 70% due to travel being restricted to essential actions only. Accommodation and Food Services are the highest number of unemployment claims with just under 100,000;
- Initial weekly unemployment claims rose by almost 1,800 to 16,224 in the Capital Region this week, with over 9,500 initial weekly claims in East Baton Rouge alone;
- As Governor Edwards cited in his decision to extend the Stay at Home Order, there has been a noteworthy increase in the rate of COVID-19 cases in parishes in the BRAC region.