News

Secretary of Administration Susanne Young Releases Vermont's Revenue Results for January 2019 (Feb. 2019)

02.15.2019

On January 22, 2019, the Emergency Board met and approved a new consensus revenue forecast as presented by the State and Legislative economists. The consensus forecast was updated with new monthly and cumulative targets that were used to evaluate January receipts and will be used as the measure through the rest of the fiscal year.

Secretary of Administration Susanne Young released January FY 2019 revenue results for the General Fund, Transportation Fund, and Education Fund on February 15, 2019.  Revenue activity for the month of January was ahead of target for the G-Fund and virtually on-target for the T-Fund and E-Fund.  Net receipts amounts for the G-Fund were primarily influenced by receipts activity in Personal Income Tax and by better than expected receipts activity in the Corporate Income Tax component.  In the T-Fund, receipts activity for all components, except for the “Other Fees” component, were slightly ahead of target.  The E-Fund finished January slightly below target due to Sales & Use Tax receipts activity, which may be reflecting still lagging payment on liabilities from new e-commerce payers.

BLS Releases January 2019 Consumer Price Index (Feb. 2019)

02.13.2019

The Consumer Price Index report, released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, provides the latest evidence that inflation is in line with the Federal Reserve Bank’s wait-and-see approach to its rate-setting policy.  The Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged in January.  Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased by 1.6 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The energy index declined for the third consecutive month, offsetting increases elsewhere.  Overall the energy index fell by 3.1 percent, as did gasoline (down 5.5%), fuel oil (down 1.3%), and the other energy index components.  Food indexes—food at home and food away from home—increased by 0.2 percent in January. 

Core inflation—all items minus food and energy—rose 0.2 percent in January for the fifth consecutive month.  The Fed’s preferred gauge has held steady at around its 2.0 percent price growth target, a “healthy for the economy” level.  Indexes for shelter, apparel, medical care, recreation, and household furnishings and operations each rose; in contrast, airline fares and motor vehicle insurance declined during the month. 

The all items index increased 1.6 percent over the last 12 months ending in January; marking the smallest increase since the period ending in June 2017.  The energy index decreased by 4.8 percent while the food index increased by 1.6 percent over the last 12 months.  Core inflation rose 2.2 percent over the last 12 months.  The Fed has pointed to muted inflation pressures in recent weeks as one reason for the pause in their raising of short-term rates. 

The full press release can be found via the link below.

Next release is Tuesday, March 12, 2019, for the February 2019 Consumer Price Index.

Vermont Business Roundtable and EPR Release Qtr1 2019 Business Conditions Survey Results (Feb. 2019)

02.11.2019

Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR) and Jeffrey Carr, President, Economic & Policy Resources (EPR), announced the Q1 of 2019 outlook results of their joint initiative, the VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey and Index. The latest survey, which was conducted during January of 2019, achieved a response rate of 62 percent overall.

More than 60 percent of respondents shared negative outlooks specifically with ease of hiring for available positions (64%); a decrease from the previous survey (82%). A supermajority of respondents expressed a neutral or negative outlook about the State’s overall business climate (85%); an increase from the previous survey (72%). However, expected demand for the next three months was also increased slightly from the previous quarter (41%).  When asked, “Are you more or less optimistic about the general business climate in your sector compared to three months ago?”, the responses were largely neutral or negative. The Accommodations and Food Services sector expressed the most optimism (43%), while the Education sector had the most pessimistic outlook (80%). 

The survey is attached as a pdf below.  The next survey will be conducted in April 2019.

BLS Releases January 2019 Employment Situation (Feb. 2019)

02.01.2019

Nonfarm employers posted strong employment growth, adding 304,000 jobs; the unemployment rate edged upward to 4.0 percent; and hourly wages posted continued growth in January.  The revision to the job growth reported for the prior two months was mixed, with November revised up by 20,000 jobs and December revised down by 90,000 jobs.  The three-month average was 241,000 jobs, more than the 223,000 average monthly rate for calendar year 2018.

Job gains occurred across a wide range of sectors in January including leisure and hospitality, construction, health care, and transportation and warehousing.  Leisure and hospitality added 74,000 jobs, largely among food service and drinking places and amusement, gambling, and recreation.  Construction added 52,000 jobs, health care added 42,000, transportation and warehousing added 27,000 jobs, and retail trade added 21,000 jobs in January.  Professional and business services, with 30,000 jobs added in January, has added 546,000 jobs over the last 12 months.  Health care added 368,000 year-over-year.  Both continued to be the biggest drivers of job growth; with solid gains over the last 12 months also coming from construction (338,000) and manufacturing (261,000).

Despite strong nonfarm jobs growth, the unemployment rate increased to 4.0 percent in January, from 3.9 percent in December, as the strong labor market conditions pulled more people into the labor market.  During the month, the labor force participation rate rose by 0.1 percentage points.  The employment rate—or employment-to-population ratio (EPOP or the percentage of adults with jobs) edged up as well in January to 60.7, a high for the recovery. 

The tighter labor market is showing some dividends in wage growth.  The average hourly wage is up 3.2 percent over the last year; over the last three months (November, December, and January), the annualized rate was up 3.3 percent.  With the core rate of inflation at 2.2 percent, increased hourly wages translate to modest real wage gains.
   

In sum, this is mostly a positive jobs report.  The pace of job growth that began seven years ago is continuing, with the economy adding a total of 2.7 million jobs during 2018.  This growth rate is pulling more workers into the labor market, which is now tight enough to produce real wage gains.  

The full BLS press release on the January 2019 employment situation can be accessed in the link below:

The next employment situation report for February 2019 will be released on Friday, March 8, 2019. 

Town of Queensbury New York, Affordable Housing Strategy (Jan. 2019)

01.24.2019

Economic & Policy Resources Inc. and Crane Associates Inc. prepared and submitted to The Town of Queensbury, NY an Affordable Housing Strategy, dated January 18, 2019.  You may view the pdf of this strategy at the link below.