The Augusta Leading Economic Index (LEI) increased 0.3 percent in March from February. It is 1.6 percent higher than March 2023.
The two components that contributed positively to the gain were residential building permits (up 8.8 percent) and initial claims for unemployment insurance (down 28 percent). Residential building permits have generally been on an upward trend since the financial crisis of 2008 and reflect a growing population from 535,000 in 2008 to 629,000 in 2023.
Although initial claims for unemployment insurance fell, job openings also fell for the sixth consecutive month. There are 263,000 job openings in Georgia and 169,000 in South Carolina. South Carolina job openings have held up stronger than Georgia which also saw the sixth consecutive month of declining job openings. Nevertheless, this still represents 1.6 job openings per unemployed worker in Georgia and 2.1 job openings per worker in South Carolina.
Although we know the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently passed the 40,000 mark, back at the end of March it had fallen slightly from the end of February. Inflation in the south census region fell to 3.3 percent, the lowest rate since June 2023.
