Methodology

COVID-19 Economic Recovery Index®

Overview

The COVID-19 Economic Recovery Index© is designed to track key indicators and measure the status of the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic at the county level against state and national statistics. The single index metric is a composite of key health, economic and housing indicators. Due to varying frequencies of data releases published by public and private entities, the Jorge M. Pérez FIU Metropolitan Center offers both monthly and quarterly tracking systems. The monthly index includes 7 key COVID-19 health, economic performance, and housing affordability indicators. The quarterly series provides a deep dive analysis including 15 indicators and narrative on the COVID-19 pandemic, real unemployment, industry sector analysis, and housing market trends.

Calculating the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Index

The calculation of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Index© involves a four-step process: (1) normalizing the data indicators by placing them on a common scale from 0 to 100 where 0 represents the lowest possible score and 100 represents the highest possible score; (2) averaging rescaled scores together within each of the data indicators of the Index; (3) assigning statistical “weight” for each of the variables where lead and coincident indicators are assigned a greater weight than lag indictors; and (4) adjusting for the selected base period – January 2020 (100 index) measuring heath, economic, and housing affordability activity relative to pre-COVID-19 levels.

Index Indicators & Data Sources

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Note: Variables, highlighted in purple, are included in the Quarterly Index Calculations.