Lubbock Economic Index Shows Improvement For April 2014

Lubbock’s economy continues to improve according to a monthly index.

The Lubbock Economic Index for April 2014 showed an increase to 140.1, up from March 2014’s 139.3 and far up from April 2013’s LEI of 134.5.

So far, the Lubbock Economic Index has risen for 30 out of 32 months during the current cycle of recovery.

Not all of the economic news is good, however, with general real spending by households and businesses remaining flat in April when compared with strong April numbers for 2012 and 2013.

The construction sector has seen hefty growth, but single-family housing construction is down from 2013’s high numbers. Home sales remain flat as well.

General real taxable spending per sales tax receipts in April remained flat when compared to April 2013, but last year reflected very strong growth, setting a high benchmark for this year.

Auto sales continue to rise in Lubbock, with spending on new and used automobiles up by more than nine percent when compared to April 2013, which was up by nearly 30 percent compared to April of 2012.

Prices in the Hub City are also rising slightly according to the Lubbock Consumer Price Index.

The CPI in April increased a tenth of a point to 2.3 percent from March.

The food and grocery sector of the CPI remained unchanged from March to April at 2.2 percent. The rate of change for the housing portion of the Lubbock CPI also remained unchanged from March to April at 3.3 percent.

The rate of price increase in the energy and utilities sector did increase, jumping to 2.2 percent for April 2014, up from March’s two percent and February’s 1.7 percent.