BRAC produces an 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 as it begins to steady and rebound. Past dashboards are archived on brac.org/recovery.
Key findings from this week’s dashboard include:
- Consumer spending has normalized at near pre-pandemic levels in the weeks running up to the expiration of federal unemployment enhancement;
- Fuel sales were down over-the-year both in the region and statewide, although regional retail fuel sales continue to trend toward 2019 numbers;
- Residential mobility was almost uniformly down across the Capital Region for the week ending July 27, as cases spiked;
- Unemployment claims stabilized in the weeks following bar closures with around 20 times the pre-pandemic number of combined weekly claims;
- As cases spiked and states put travel restrictions on Louisiana, hotel occupancy stagnated at 50%, notably below 2019 rates for the same time last year.