September 19th, 2016
This week we review our proprietary DIVER Geo Score, highlight the best and worst performing States, as well as provide you a link to get the scores themselves. Also, we update a favorite chart which tracks market sentiment.
August Geo Scores
Today, we release the most recent DIVER Geo Scores for States, counties and cities. The DIVER Geo Score represents a relative score of the economic health of a U.S. State, county or city. Based on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the best, this data is updated monthly and is calculated from multiple economic and demographic factors related to three primary data categories—employment, income and housing.
The DIVER Geo Scores are available here.
At the State level, Colorado’s economy has shown the strongest improvement over the last year. The economies of Maryland, Wisconsin and Florida also continue to show strong improvement.
Energy/commodity dependent States continue to show the weakest performance.
Also notable among the weakest performers are New York and Connecticut. Due to its ongoing fiscal difficulties, Connecticut deserves special attention.
The strong improvement in Florida’s State level economic health is echoed in the improvement in its largest counties, which are performing better than counties around the nation.
While State level economic growth in New Jersey has stabilized, certain counties continue to show signs of weakness.
Chart of the Week: Municipal Market Sentiment Near Record Lows
The recent uptick in interest rates and the prospect of supply levels increasing from summer lows has lead to a decline in market sentiment to the low end of its recent range. In recent times, sentiment at levels this weak has coincided with major market events.
Have a great week,
Michael Craft, CFA
Colorado’s Economy Shows Strong Improvement
September 19th, 2016
This week we review our proprietary DIVER Geo Score, highlight the best and worst performing States, as well as provide you a link to get the scores themselves. Also, we update a favorite chart which tracks market sentiment.
August Geo Scores
Today, we release the most recent DIVER Geo Scores for States, counties and cities. The DIVER Geo Score represents a relative score of the economic health of a U.S. State, county or city. Based on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the best, this data is updated monthly and is calculated from multiple economic and demographic factors related to three primary data categories—employment, income and housing.
The DIVER Geo Scores are available here.
At the State level, Colorado’s economy has shown the strongest improvement over the last year. The economies of Maryland, Wisconsin and Florida also continue to show strong improvement.
Energy/commodity dependent States continue to show the weakest performance.
Also notable among the weakest performers are New York and Connecticut. Due to its ongoing fiscal difficulties, Connecticut deserves special attention.
The strong improvement in Florida’s State level economic health is echoed in the improvement in its largest counties, which are performing better than counties around the nation.
While State level economic growth in New Jersey has stabilized, certain counties continue to show signs of weakness.
Chart of the Week: Municipal Market Sentiment Near Record Lows
The recent uptick in interest rates and the prospect of supply levels increasing from summer lows has lead to a decline in market sentiment to the low end of its recent range. In recent times, sentiment at levels this weak has coincided with major market events.
Have a great week,
Michael Craft, CFA