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 stayed strong in Livingston and Ascension, but dipped in East Baton Rouge – the parish with the most unemployed individuals in the region, in the second week without enhanced unemployment benefits;
- Mobility was down through the week, specifically to the workplace, likely due to storm closures;
- Weekly unemployment claims dipped slightly, marking the fifth straight week of lower claims;
- Hotel occupancy was just short of the same week in 2019, and is expected to be near capacity next week due to the high number of evacuees traveling to the region.