Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Flash Index of Illinois economy on upward trend

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois Flash Economic Index continued its steady climb of recent months, reaching 99.5 in March, up from 99.0 in February and 98.5 in January.

The Illinois economy is nearing the 100 level that indicates economic growth, a reading that has not been achieved in almost three years.

“While the state economy is doing much better than during the recession period of 2001-2002, it is still far less vigorous than the period of strong expansion in the late 1990s,” said J. Fred Giertz, the University of Illinois economist who compiled the data.

A year ago in March, the Flash reading was 95.8.

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 March. (Note: This month’s Flash Index is based on data through March 20.)

line chart showing upward trend of economic growth

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