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Some Improvement to State Ecomony
(IRN)-The Illinois economy is showing signs of improvement.

The University of Illinois Flash Index is at 93.5, a 1 1/2 point jump since last month, the biggest one month increase in six years.

"The good news is that at least the index is moving in the right direction. The problem is there's still a pretty low level, so it's not that everything's fine again, but at least it's moving in a positive direction," says U. of I. economist Fred Giertz, who publishes the index at the start of each month.

Giertz notes that the Flash Index is a leading indicator. It'll be a while before unemployment and home foreclosures start to fall, and wages and home values start to rise, for example.

In the Flash Index, a reading above 100 indicates economic growth, below 100 indicates contraction, so these are still tough economic times in Illinois.

Giertz says minor fluctuations in the Flash Index could be aberrations, but this increase is enough to indicate actual movement, and to diminish the likelihood of a so called double dip recession.

The Flash Index was last this high in May 2009.

(Illinois Radio Network)
10 02 10 by Newsroom
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