ERIE — Kenneth Louie, Ph.D., director, and James Kurre, Ph.D., director emeritus, of the Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE), Black School of Business at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College provided a concise review of the economic forecast for 2015 and unveiled the latest Erie Leading Index, at the Manufacturer & Business Association’s December Eggs ‘n’ Issues briefing Wednesday at the Association’s Conference Center, 2171 West 38th Street at Pittsburgh Avenue.
Their presentation, “The Erie Economy: Where We Are, Where We’re Going,” included a broad overview of how the Erie economy has performed relative to the nation in recent years and some insights on what to watch out for in 2015. With the addition of Dr. Louie, this year’s talk also brought a special focus on Erie’s connections to the international economy.
The release of the latest Erie Leading Index also provided some good news for the coming year. According to economists, ELI sees Erie employment having a bright future in the upcoming winter months, predicting steady employment growth during these wintry months.
“It appears that last quarter’s growing pains have finally paid off, resulting in yet another record breaking value for ELI (103.29) in September 2014,” according to the latest data. “ELI has been experiencing steady growth since February 2010. In the last year alone, ELI has grown 1.9 percent and has exceeded the previous record high reached in January 2000 (101.46). In fact, ELI has surpassed this old record value in each of the last 12 months.”
Researchers say Erie’s employment has still not fully recovered from the most recent recession, but progress has been made. “In the last 12 months, Erie total employment has grown by 0.7 percent. This slow growth is encouraging, especially considering the fall in employment that started in February 2012. Employment is still about 1,300 jobs shy of where it was before this decline, but the reversal is already under way with over 1,700 of these jobs already recovered.”
As for now, researchers say ELI provides a positive outlook for employment in the near future.
For the full report, visit the Economic Research Institute of Erie’s website at http://128.118.18.108/ELI%2014.pdf.
