BRAC’s June 23 COVID-19 Brief: BRAC’s Economic Indicator Dashboard

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.

Despite an overall stagnation in jobs and revenue data, vehicle fuel sales and mobility show a marked improvement over the week. Consumer vehicle fuel sales are positive for the second time in the past three weeks, and are approaching near-normal levels. Additionally, residential travel to work and retail is significantly up to near-normal mobility levels, illustrating a willingness to leave home, even if people are not working or spending as they normally would. Unemployment numbers remain steady at 57,000 claims, a data point that will be critical to reduce as we approach the expiration of federal unemployment benefits at the end of July.

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Key takeaways from this week’s dashboard include:
    • Small business revenue varies greatly by parish, and remains down more than 20% in East Baton Rouge;
    • Vehicle fuel sales are up, which tracks with greater mobility from Capital Region residents to retail and recreation, the workplace, parks, and other sites;
    • Despite residents being out and about, unemployment claims have stagnated with around 57,000 people making claims in each of the last three weeks; and
    • While occupancy of hotels is recovering, revenue is still far below 2019 numbers, indicating lower rates due to decreased demand.

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