Air, Hotel, Car Rental And Restaurant Sales Indicate Strong Industry Growth
<B> Air, Hotel, Car Rental And Restaurant Sales Indicate Strong Industry Growth</B>
The Travel Business Roundtable Index of Leading Economic Indicators showed another strong monthly advance in January of 1 percent, with growth coming in six of the nine indicators with which the index tracks the travel industry.
Growth came in total Airlines Reporting Corp. sales, Smith Travel Research's hotel/motel revenue index and hotel/motel occupancy rate, the daily rental car price as determined by an index provided by one vendor, personal consumption expenditures for travel and other discretionary products and services from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, retail sales at eating and drinking establishments taken from the Department of Commerce and data taken from the Bureau of Census.
There was no change in January in revenue passenger miles as reported by the Air Transport Association and the level of travel industry employment according to Bureau of Labor statistics.
The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence showed a slight decline in January, but the February numbers, already out, show confidence bouncing back to its highest level in 30 years.
Meanwhile, The Conference Board's U.S. Index of Leading Economic Indicators has been flat since April, 1997.
The January number was 0.01. This flat growth--which analysts expect to be further compounded by the continuing effects of the Asian financial crisis--suggests the growth rate in the United States could be slowing down.
On the other hand, growth in the U.S. Index of Leading Economic Indicators continues to hold steady and industry analysts expect it to show another 2 percent increase in 1998.