BRAC’s May 26 COVID-19 Brief: Weekly Economic Indicator Dashboard

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 as it begins to steady and rebound. Past dashboards are archived on brac.org/recovery.

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Key takeaways from this week’s dashboard include:

  • Consumer spending was up over the week across the Capital Region’s three largest parishes, and in Ascension it is back to pre-pandemic levels;
  • Hourly employment at small businesses was up slightly across the same parishes, but has not rebounded to the extent other indicators have;
  • The number of initial unemployment claims dropped for the fourth consecutive week, and are down more than 70% from the high week in April;
  • Hotel occupancy rate has risen for the fifth consecutive week, likely due to legislative session and greater essential work travel as the economy reopens.

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