Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Flash Economic Index registers highest monthly level in a year

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Continuing its slow rise since the last quarter of 1999, the University of Illinois Flash Economic Index registered its highest monthly level in a year.

The April reading of 103.2 — up from 102.9 in March and 101.8 last October, its recent low point — suggests that the state economy is on a steady course of moderate expansion, which places it somewhat at odds with the U.S. economy.

“Illinois appears to be growing less rapidly than the national economy, which is most likely good rather than bad news for the state,” said J. Fred Giertz, an economist at the UI Institute of Government and Public Affairs, who released the April Flash reading today (May 2). “The national economy has recorded some very high — and likely unsustainable — rates recently. Coupled with recent indications of inflation, there is concern that the national economy may be overheating.”

The Illinois economy had a higher growth rate than April a year ago (101.9) and was tied with the same (103.2) reading of May 1999.

The Flash Index is a weighted average of growth rates in consumer spending, personal income and corporate earnings. Tax receipts are adjusted for inflation before growth rates are calculated. The growth rate for each component is then calculated for the 12-month period using data through April 30.

Any reading above 100 means the state economy is expanding, while any number below 100 means the economy is contracting.

Read Next

Life sciences Photo of Michael Ward standing in tall grass on a riverbank.

How are migrating wild birds affected by H5N1 infection in the U.S.?

Each spring, roughly 3.5 billion wild birds migrate from their warm winter havens to their breeding grounds across North America, eating insects, distributing plant seeds and providing a variety of other ecosystem services to stopping sites along the way. Some also carry diseases like avian influenza, a worry for agricultural, environmental and public health authorities. […]

Announcements Marcelo Garcia, professor of civil and environmental engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering.

Illinois faculty member elected to National Academy of Engineering

Champaign, Ill. — Marcelo Garcia, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Social sciences Male and female student embracing on the quad with flowering redbud tree and the ACES library in the background. Photo by Michelle Hassel

Dating is not broken, but the trajectories of relationships have changed

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to some popular culture writers and online posts by discouraged singles lamenting their inability to find romantic partners, dating is “broken,” fractured by the social isolation created by technology, pandemic lockdowns and potential partners’ unrealistic expectations. Yet two studies of college students conducted a decade apart found that their ideas about […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010