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 takeaways from this week’s dashboard include:
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- Mobility was down throughout the Capital Region this week, with less travel to work and recreational sites;
- While consumer spending data showed an uptick toward pre-pandemic levels in the largest parishes, small business revenue still lags;
- The number of combined unemployment claims is again down slightly, but not significantly. The slow recovery is also reflected in the newly-released unemployment rate, at 11.8%, down slightly from the high of 13.0% in April;
- While hotel occupancy rate stayed flat at 47%, the gap between 2020 and 2019 numbers grew for both occupancy and revenues, as the region was hosting a large soccer tournament last year – another reminder of the effect of limited travel on the local economy.