Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Flash Index indicates Illinois economy continues to stall

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois economy continues to be stalled.

The University of Illinois Flash Index of Economic Growth was 95.3 in November, down slightly from the 95.6 level recorded for October.

The Index has been between 95 and 95.6 for the last six months – consistently below the 100 dividing line between growth and contraction for the state economy. A year ago in November, the Index reading was 98.

“The results are disappointing given the recent optimism about the national economy as evidenced by the rebound of the stock market over the last six weeks,” said J. Fred Giertz, the Illinois economist who released the November Flash reading today.

The Illinois tax collections that are used in the Flash Index “continue to be very sluggish,” Giertz reported. All three components of the Index were down in “real” (inflation-adjusted) terms from the same month a year ago.

While the national economy appears to have avoided a double-dip recession, the recovery is weak. The Federal Reserve Board, which last month cut interest rates to stimulate growth, predicts only slow expansion in the near term.

The Index is a weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income. Tax receipts from corporate income, personal income and retail sales 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 Nov. 30.

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