The largest contribution to the decline came from the hospitality sector, followed by manufacturing, energy, retail, and employment. The 39 percent decline in the hospitality sector was likely a result of inclement weather in the latter third of the month, which resulted in substantially lower occupancy rates in area hotels and motels. The graph below plots the seasonally and non-seasonally adjusted values from January 1994 through December 1996. Seasonal adjustment is a technique that eliminates seasonal variation from the economic data. Therefore, it is a better measure of fundamental change in the economy.
Quarterly values smooth out the fluctuations in the month to month data.
The quarterly composite index rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted value of 103.3, from 102.9 in the third quarter, an increase of 0.38 percent. Quarterly home sales, retail sales, manufacturing, and hospitality declined while energy increased. The composite index increased, however, because the number of people employed in the County increased from an average of 55,467 in the third quarter to 57,267 in the fourth quarter, a gain of 1,800 jobs. This reflects the strong demand for labor during the Christmas season. As indicated by the table above, building permits were down sharply, while help wanted advertising and manufacturing orders declined slightly.